{"id":10857,"date":"2016-08-09T10:26:26","date_gmt":"2016-08-09T00:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/?p=10857"},"modified":"2016-08-09T17:01:00","modified_gmt":"2016-08-09T07:31:00","slug":"health-information-olympics-tennis-and-zika","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/news\/2016\/08\/09\/health-information-olympics-tennis-and-zika","title":{"rendered":"Olympics, Tennis and Zika"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Ross Smith (paramedic), Australian First Aid<\/a><\/span><\/h5>\n

Almost 24\/7 sports on the channels of 7 will give most of us square eyes over\u00a0the coming weeks. The excitement of early gold medals and watching our\u00a0Olympians perform at their peak makes it harder and harder to get off the\u00a0couch. But besides this great spectacle of the games, is there an underlying\u00a0health concern for our sporting heroes.<\/p>\n

We know that some athletes have decided to pull out of Rio because they\u00a0have concerns about the Zika virus. Wimbledon runner-up Milos Raonic,\u00a0Tomas Berdych, Simona Halep and Karolina Pliskova have all withdrawn\u00a0because of their concerns about being infected by the Zika virus. While\u00a0several other top ranking tennis players are noticeably \u2018no shows\u2019 citing\u00a0reasons such as personal to scheduling to not attend the 2016 Rio games.<\/p>\n

What is the Zika Virus?<\/strong>
\nA little-known infection transmitted by mosquitos, this virus appears to be\u00a0related to dengue, yellow fever and West Nile virus. It is transmitted by some\u00a0species of Aedes mosquito, particularly the Aedes aegypti. The infection can\u00a0occur without symptoms but in some cases it can cause fever, rash, severe\u00a0headaches, joint pain and muscle pain. Illness is usually not severe and\u00a0hospital treatment is not required.<\/p>\n

Zika was first detected in a monkey in Uganda in 1947, with the first human\u00a0cases identified in Nigeria in the late 1960s. Outbreaks of Zika virus have\u00a0previously been reported in tropical Africa, south-east Asia, and the Pacific\u00a0Islands.\u00a0It is believed the virus was introduced to South America, particularly Brazil,\u00a0sometime in late 2014.<\/p>\n

Most concern and public fear centres around a possible link between infection\u00a0with Zika virus during pregnancy and birth defects including microcephaly,\u00a0which causes brain damage in babies.<\/p>\n

Signs and symptoms of the Zika Virus<\/strong>
\nThe infection isn’t transmitted easily between people the way a common cold\u00a0or the flu is, though. Experts are still uncovering insight to this end, although\u00a0the virus could be sexually transmitted or passed on through blood\u00a0transfusion.<\/p>\n

For most people, the Zika virus causes a mild infection. Many wouldn’t even\u00a0know they’re infected, as only about 20 percent carry its symptoms. These\u00a0symptoms include an itchy rash, fever, mild joint pain and headache. It’s very\u00a0similar to a common cold or seasonal virus.<\/p>\n

So what is the risk to our athletes?<\/strong>
\nDespite World media attention, or should I say hype, any long-term health\u00a0effects to our Olympians are relatively low. Not that I am dismissing the\u00a0seriousness of this virus, but despite widespread concern, the World Health\u00a0Organisation has confirmed that the 2016 Olympics will not affect the spread\u00a0of the Zika virus as much as previously anticipated.<\/p>\n

The agency says that the\u00a0Zika risk in the city is dropping significantly this month, as it is South\u00a0America’s winter \u2013 a period when fewer mosquitos are active. However, the\u00a0WHO has advised pregnant women not to travel to areas with ongoing Zika\u00a0virus transmission, including Rio de Janeiro. The organisation also advised\u00a0the sexual partners of pregnant women returning from areas where the virus\u00a0is circulating “to practice safer sex or abstain throughout the pregnancy.”<\/p>\n

Despite the Zika virus being around since the 60\u2019s, little is known about it and\u00a0the risk of transition outside that of mosquito to human. Some leading experts\u00a0suggest that in a male who has been infected by the virus it will be clear from\u00a0their blood in about one week. Others say that not enough evidence exists to\u00a0support this; so all athletes are advised to take adequate steps to protect\u00a0themselves from being infected. As there is a possibility that the Zika virus\u00a0could be transmitted sexually, athletes and visitors to Rio have been advised\u00a0to practice safe sex.<\/p>\n

Zika-proof condoms<\/strong>
\nThe WHO and the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) recommend using\u00a0condoms during intercourse to prevent transmission. That\u2019s led to some\u00a0opportunism from some businesses. For instance, Australia\u2019s Olympic\u00a0delegation will be provided \u2018Zika-proof\u2019 condoms by companies Starpharma\u00a0and Ansell. These prophylactics contain an anti microbial agent the\u00a0companies claim offer even more safety.<\/p>\n

To be clear, all condoms protect against Zika. The 450,000 free condoms\u00a0(100,000 female ones and 350,000 male ones) that Brazilian authorities will\u00a0be distributed during the games, will be just as effective as the specialty ones\u00a0that Australian athletes will be equipped with.<\/p>\n

Other precautions such as mossie repellant and sleeping under nets all\u00a0reduce the risk of infection.<\/p>\n

Is a Zika virus outbreak headed to Australia?<\/strong>
\nIt is possible. Transmission could happen anywhere there is dengue.\u00a0Mosquitoes will play the most important role in any local transmission and\u00a0only one of hundreds of mosquitoes found in Australia can transmit Zika virus,\u00a0the Aedes aegypti. This species is only found in north Queensland.<\/p>\n

For the virus to spread here, the Aedes aegypti mosquito would have to \u2018bite\u2019\u00a0an infected traveller shortly after they have returned from the country where\u00a0they contracted the virus. The infected mozzie would then go on to \u2018bite\u2019 a\u00a0local.<\/p>\n

The chances are small but not impossible. There have already been 6 cases\u00a0of the Zika virus diagnosed in Australia; all diagnosed have contracted the\u00a0virus overseas and returned infected.<\/p>\n

How will I know I’ve got it?<\/strong>
\nA laboratory can confirm the diagnosis by blood tests.\u00a0However, most diagnoses of Zika virus are based on people’s symptoms and\u00a0travel history. Symptoms are usually mild and appear a few days after the\u00a0infected mosquito \u2018bites\u2019 a person.<\/p>\n

If you have been traveling and return unwell, it is important to seek medical\u00a0attention and report any signs and symptoms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ross Smith (paramedic), Australian First Aid Almost 24\/7 sports on the channels of 7 will give most of us square eyes over\u00a0the coming weeks. The excitement of early gold medals and watching our\u00a0Olympians perform at their peak makes it harder and harder to get off the\u00a0couch. But besides this great spectacle of the games, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5870,"featured_media":10860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5870"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennis.com.au\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}