Olympics vs.Infection - no medals for the nanobugs

Well, it’s over - The 2008 Olympic Games concluded last night with fabulous

closing ceremonies.  It has been such an exciting and inspirational experience even for spectators. I must admit that as I watched the magnificent carefully choreographed program, I couldn’t help thinking (for a moment) about how many people they had to accommodate with toilets and food – and not just for the opening and closing ceremonies – but for 16+ days as they acclimated to the time zone and the culture.  I watched almost every evening with great interest in the competition, medal counts, personal best performances and the breaking of world records.  But I never heard any mention of the incidence of infection or the preparations related to infection prevention with the athletes (or the spectators).   I can think of a few infection risks right off and I hope that the Olympic site preparations addressed them (cuz it is too late now, huh?).  The consequences of some infections could set off pandemic (worldwide distribution of an infection) and others are just age-old annoyances.  

As those thousands of people converge on one city from every corner of the planet, they bring with them their skills and athletic talents and also the microbial flora of their locale.  Some could even arrive sick or incubating something they acquired en route as the result of many hours of breathing re-circulated air on a plane.  It’s winter in the southern hemisphere and so colds and influenza could be in full swing in an athlete’s hometown and easily hitch a ride to Beijing.  Sometimes the media reports bouts of GI upset in individual contenders. Usually it is blamed on performance anxiety or an immune system taxed jet lag or ambitious last minute training.  But there is so much Norovirus thriving in the world – bringing a segment of the global population together in one place, albeit a generally healthy group, could facilitate transmission of any Norovirus harbored by a food service worker or athlete - lots of toilet use and potential for exposure. 

Athletes have so much on their minds at the Olympics – infection prevention is usually not a priority thought.  However, the media did report that one athlete was wearing gloves and not shaking hands and several athletes wore face masks to protect themselves from smog in Beijing.  

Back in 2004 , I read about a company called Noble Fiber Technologies, in an issue of Fortune Small Business magazine.  They were named as one of the top companies to watch in the future.  Utilizing silver, they make fabric that is antibacterial and eliminates odors – perfect for athletic uniforms.  They manufactured many of the team uniforms for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.  I talked with representatives of Noble Fiber Technologies at the APIC conference in Denver in June and they said they were making uniforms for many teams competing in these 2008 Olympics.  Modern technology is amazing sometimes in solving big problems and age-old annoyances like body odor in athletes.

The “locker room nanobugs”, as I call them, have so many opportunities for transmission at the Olympic Games and in the in the locker rooms, showers, pools, decks, and wrestling mats everywhere - causing trouble for the aspiring gold medalists of 2012 and beyond.  I will discuss some of these nanobugs in my blogs this week.    

This entry was posted on August 25th, 2008 at 12:00 am. RSS | Back to Blog Homepage.

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