       Document 0785
 DOCN  M9460785
 TI    Infectious diseases in competitive sports.
 DT    9404
 AU    Goodman RA; Thacker SB; Solomon SL; Osterholm MT; Hughes JM;
       Epidemiology Program Office, Centers for Disease Control and;
       Prevention, Atlanta, Ga 30333.
 SO    JAMA. 1994 Mar 16;271(11):862-7. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
       MED/94158074
 AB    OBJECTIVE--Participation in competitive sports is popular and widely
       encouraged throughout the United States. Reports of infectious disease
       outbreaks among competitive athletes and recent publicity regarding
       infectious disease concerns in sports underscore the need to better
       characterize the occurrence of these problems. DATA SOURCES--To identify
       reports of infectious diseases in sports, we performed a comprehensive
       search of the medical literature (MEDLINE) and newspaper databases in
       two on-line services (NEXIS and DIALOG PAPERS). STUDY
       SELECTION--Articles selected from the literature review included those
       describing cases or outbreaks of disease in which exposure to an
       infectious agent was likely to have occurred during training for
       competitive sports or during actual competition. Articles from the
       newspaper review included reports of outbreaks, exposures, or preventive
       measures that directly or indirectly involved teams or spectators. DATA
       SYNTHESIS--The literature review identified 38 reports of infectious
       disease outbreaks or other instances of transmission through
       person-to-person (24 reports), common-source (nine reports), or airborne
       (five reports) routes; the newspaper search identified 28 reports.
       Infectious agents included predominantly viruses but also a variety of
       fungi and gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. CONCLUSIONS--Our
       findings indicate that strategies to prevent transmission of infectious
       diseases in sports must recognize risks at three levels: the individual
       athlete, the team, and spectators or others who may become exposed to
       infectious diseases as a result of sports-related activities. Team
       physicians and others who are responsible for the health of athletes
       should be especially familiar with the features of infectious diseases
       that occur in sports and measures for the prevention of these problems.
 DE    Communicable Disease Control  Communicable
       Diseases/*EPIDEMIOLOGY/MICROBIOLOGY/TRANSMISSION  Data Collection
       *Disease Outbreaks/PREVENTION & CONTROL/STATISTICS & NUMER DATA  Human
       HIV Infections/TRANSMISSION  Information Systems  MEDLINE  Newspapers
       *Sports/STATISTICS & NUMER DATA  JOURNAL ARTICLE

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).

