Saudis protect against swine flu

Precautions taken as millions are expected for annual pilgrimage

Associated Press

Washington -- Some of the millions who travel to Saudi Arabia next month for the annual hajj will be greeted with face masks, hand sanitizer and fever checks as health officials strive to stem the spread of swine flu during the world's largest pilgrimage.

The Saudi health ministry, aided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is setting up an emergency operations center to get real-time reports from area hospitals and clinics to track how many are sick and will need the free anti-viral medication stockpiled for the dense gathering.

"It's an advance warning system," said the CDC's Dr. Shahul Ebrahim, who with Dr. Ziad Memish, the Saudi deputy health minister, outlined the planning and concerns Thursday in the journal Science.

The hajj, a pilgrimage required of all able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lifetime, attracts about 3 million people from 160 countries every year to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The climax is a four-day period during which people gather in and around Mecca to perform a series of rituals.

Cholesterol drugs battle flu

A new treatment for swine flu may already be on pharmacy shelves -- cholesterol-lowering statin drugs like Lipitor and Zocor.

A large study found that people who were taking these drugs when they caught seasonal flu and had to be hospitalized were twice as likely to survive than those who were not on such medicines.

This doesn't prove that statins can cure flu, or that starting on them after catching the flu would help. A federal study is under way to test that. Doctors are optimistic, because previous studies also found that statins may improve survival from infectious diseases.

"It's very promising," said the new study's leader, Dr. Ann Thomas of the Oregon Public Health Division. Results were discussed Thursday at an Infectious Diseases Society of America conference.

"It's intriguing and exciting," and the benefit seen from statins is "substantial," said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University doctor whose hospital in Nashville, Tenn., was involved in the research.

"There are relatively few downsides to trying statins," which are cheap, relatively safe and already among the most widely used medicines in the world, he said.