While Zika was the focus of attention during the Rio Olympics, it was finally dengue, chikungunya, and West Nile virus that infected the athletes.
In early 2016, the Zika virus panicked the planet. Health authorities, sports and delegations were worried about the holding of the Olympic Games in Rio, while the epidemic was raging in Brazil. The South Korean delegation had asked its athletes to wear long clothes impregnated with repellents in training. Others had distributed condoms to avoid sexual contamination. It was a bit of a panic.
But ultimately, Zika seems to have spared the athletes and their coaches. Samples taken from a sample did not reveal any Zika virus contamination. On the other hand, a few cases of chikungunya, dengue, but especially West Nile virus have been detected.
Severe form in 6% of cases
“Everyone was focusing on Zika, ignoring the fact that mosquito bites can cause other infections,” says Krow Ampofo, infectious disease specialist at the University of Utah. We didn’t expect to find so many ”.
With his team, he collected the blood results of 457 athletes, which were taken after their return from Brazil. Among them, 32 were infected (7% of the total), including 27 with West Nile virus. Three more had contracted chikungunya, and two had dengue. But no trace of Zika has been spotted.
Fortunately, none developed severe symptoms.
“We all had our Hollywood glasses on our noses, and they blinded us, preventing us from seeing other possibilities,” continues Marc Couturier, medical director of the laboratory that carried out the tests. We must not forget that West Nile virus has been around for a while, and is still very present. “
It circulates almost everywhere on the planet, and “is maintained in nature by means of a cycle involving transmission between birds and mosquitoes,” explains the WHO. It can infect humans, horses and other mammals. “
A dangerous neurological form
In four out of five cases, people infected with the virus do not develop symptoms. Others develop fever, headache, physical fatigue, pain, nausea and vomiting, and sometimes rash.
A clinical, neurological form can also occur, in about one in 150 people, in particular in people over the age of 50, or those whose immune system is failing. Neck stiffness, tremors, convulsions, paralysis … The most serious forms can lead to coma, and death.
There is no vaccine or specific treatment. Only the symptoms will be taken care of by the doctors. In 2016, in Europe, 225 human cases were identified, particularly in Romania and Italy. Without causing victims.
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