[Pre-travel advice for the Hungarian pilgrims of El Camino. Travel risks and instructions].

The Way of St. James (El Camino) is getting more and more popular. Analysis of the age groups of the pilgrims shows that the number of young pilgrims (30< years) is decreasing, but the number of middle-aged people (30-60 years) is slightly increasing, while the number of elderly people (>60 years) has considerably increased. The statistical data of the Pilgrims' office in Santiago de Compostela also display the continuous elevation in the number of the "pilgrims" who had completed the El Camino without any religious or spiritual reason. Therefore this pilgrim route became a long-distance trekking - in the point of view of travel medicine. The old age is a high risk for travellers moreover in this long distance trekking. Therefore pre-travel counselling would be vital for aged pilgrims. Unfortunately, a few articles have been published only on the medical problems of El Camino. Taking into consideration the possible health damages during the 800 km long "Camino", the author describes its health hazards. This study could be a useful guideline for pre-travel advice for El Camino pilgrims as only limited information can be gained from the Pilgrims' Reception Office (PRO) in Santiago de Compostela. Some information was collected from the relevant pages of the internet. Therefore the author could draw limited consequences from the statistical data. Yet, the analysis of the medical causes of the deceased pilgrims told more about the hazards of 'The Way'. Although the number of female and male pilgrims was equal in the statistical data, yet the mortality rate of the male pilgrims is much more higher than that of the female pilgrims (93-7%). The most frequent cause of death was acute coronary syndrome or its suspicion (40-34%). The second most frequent cause of death was road traffic accident (17,5-25%). The most vulnerable pilgrims are the cyclists in this respect. The exacerbation of any chronic disease was also different among the genders (3-25%) but homicide is a more frequent cause of death in the female group (2%-8%). The cause of death was exhaustion, stroke, hypothermia and drowning (because of the ritual bathing in the sea, after the route completed) as well. Orv Hetil. 2018; 159(38): 1535-1542.