Infections and exercise in high-performance athletes
The elite athlete has a potentially increased sensitivity to respiratory infections, rendering protective measures particularly important. Some other infections that may appear in clusters in the sports setting, such as gastroenteritis, leptospirosis, herpes simplex and viral hepatitis, also require special precautionary attention. Strenuous exercise during ongoing infection and fever may be hazardous and should always be avoided.
In addition, early symptoms of infection warrant caution until the nature and severity of the infection become apparent. Because myocarditis may or may not be accompanied by fever, malaise or catarrhal symptoms, athletes should be informed about the symptoms suggestive of this disease. Although sudden unexpected death resulting from myocarditis is rare, exercise should be avoided whenever myocarditis is suspected. Guidelines are suggested for the management and counseling of athletes suffering from infections, including recommendations on when to resume training. Acute febrile infections are associated with decreased performance resulting from muscle wasting, circulatory deregulation and impaired motor coordination, which require variable amounts of time to become normalized once the infection is over.
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As compared with a sedentary lifestyle, the practice of moderate, regular physical training is generally considered to be associated with improved health, including, for example, lower blood pressure and bodyweight, improved glucose tolerance and possibly a decreased sensitivity to upper respiratory tract (URT) infections. However, a single bout of strenuous endurance exercise is followed by temporary functional immunodepression, the extent and duration of which are related to that of the effort exerted. During that 'open window', the sensitivity to URT and possibly also to other infections is potentially increased.
If resting periods between such exercise sessions/ competitions are not long enough to allow the immune function to recover, an increased sensitivity to infectious diseases may be present for a prolonged period of time. The potential for such a situation truly exists among the high- performing elite within several areas of sports and notably so in seasonal endurance sports.
In the sports setting, air- and droplet-borne pathogens, such as common cold viruses, are easily transmitted by aerosol or contact, especially in team sports, posing a threat not least to the elite. Infections by pathogens that are transmitted by inoculation, such as the herpes and hepatitis B viruses, tend to accumulate within certain sports.
Why Infections Spread among Athletes
In athletes, Infections might spread more easily because they:
Have repeated skin-to-skin contact.
Get breaks in the skin such as cuts and abrasions that if left uncovered allow MRSA to enter and cause infection.
Share items and surfaces that come into direct skin contact.
Have inadequate access to hygiene measures.
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A major athletic facility experienced over a 95% reduction in infection rates, after the first year of using the Air Reactor.