Three Things Thursday highlights three things I am paying attention to as an epidemiologist each week. This week’s news focuses on the Paris Olympics. As a former swimmer, I am so excited for swimming to begin on Saturday. So many outstanding athletes and human beings will swim in Paris (Katie Ledecky, Simone Manuel, Alex & Gretchen Walsh, Kate Douglass, Reagan Smith — and that’s just the women’s side!)
I am excited.
If you are looking to get an inside scoop on all thing Olympic swimming, including athlete interviews and behind the scenes previews, I highly recommend the Unfiltered Waters podcast.
I am also excited to watch women’s gymnastics, the marathons, soccer, surfing, and the open water swims (assuming it is safe to swim in the Seine…).
As we get ready for the Opening Ceremonies tomorrow evening (which are expected to draw ~300,000 people) — there is a VERY UNWANTED visitor in the Olympic Village…
Late yesterday, CNN reported that five members of the Australian water polo team have tested positive for COVID (note: water polo pits two teams of seven players — having five out sick is rough - against each other, and preliminary matches begin on Saturday).
It definitely a bad time to be down and out with the COVID.
My heart hurts for the Australian water polo players. I wish them a speedy recovery.
As I reflect on COVID-19 showing up — uninvited to the Paris Olympics — I think there are (at least) three lessons we can all take away. And that is the focus of this week’s Three Things.
Hoping this post helps to educate and empower you
to be healthy and create healthy communities.
#1 — There is no such thing as just COVID or just the flu
For those of you who've been around for a while, I know you’ve heard this story before, but please indulge me… In the fall of 2014, I was diagnosed with viral pneumonia. I was really sick — exhausted, trouble breathing, terrible pain in my chest. But I honestly thought “It’s just pneumonia…!!”
Seriously… just pneumonia.
While I knew I needed to stay out of the classroom — I felt too crappy to teach — I thought I could keep up with email, research, and grading.
I mean, it was just pneumonia.
I thought I was invincible. A little pneumonia wasn’t going to keep me down. No way!
I learned the hard way that (1) when you are sick, your body needs to rest (fully, and completely) and (2) returning to work is bad for you and puts others at risk of contracting the disease you have.
When we get sick — whether it is flu, pneumonia, RSV, COVID, whooping cough, or a cold — it is not just an illness. There is NO SUCH THING as just this disease or that disease. Sickness is real and needs to be addressed as such.
These are not just a few cases of COVID in the Olympic Village. We have athletes who are sick with a highly contagious virus. They are sick. And they could infect others.
While most people recover from flu, COVID, pneumonia, RSV, and whooping cough, these diseases can be deadly. We expect the five water polo players to recover fully, and I really do hope they are all able to compete at the Olympics once they have been cleared by the medical staff. As individuals we have the responsibility when we are sick to —
First, take care of ourselves. This means staying home when we are sick, isolating ourselves from others, and seeking the care that we need to recover fully from the illness we have.
Second, ensure that we do NOT spread the disease to others. Again, when we are sick (even if we are at the Olympic Games), we need to isolate until we are no longer contagious. This means we cannot share meals with friends, go to events or work, or hang out with our people. We must spend time alone until we have recovered fully.
Even if you have a cold — you need to take care of yourself and take steps to not pass the virus causing that cold to another person. There is no such thing as just a cold.
The way that COVID is being treated in the Olympic Village should be applauded. We must stop making light of common illnesses — just because we may get them frequently does not minimize the toll they take on our bodies and the health of our friends and neighbors.
#2 — Even Olympic Athletes Get Sick
World-class, Olympic athletes are in the best shape — physically and mentally — ever. They are healthy and strong. They have access to the best coaches, trainers, nutritionists, doctors, therapists, physical therapists, and massage therapists, among professionals that help to keep them in peak form.
And even Olympic Athletes get sick.
Sickness is NOT a sign of weakness.
We get sick when we are exposed to a pathogen — usually a virus or bacteria — and that pathogen makes its way into our bodies (past our immune systems and into our cells). This is how illness occurs. Bodybuilders get sick. Gymnasts get sick. Obviously, water polo players get sick.
Sickness is NOT a sign of weakness.
You are not fragile if you get sick. You do not have a weak immune system if you get sick.
You get sick because pathogens are spreading and they have the uncanny ability to outsmart our immune systems (literally, it is one of two things a pathogen needs to do to stay alive; the other is replicate).
#3 — Prevention
To prevent the spread of pathogens in our communities — and to ultimately, prevent illness — is a community act.
Prevention is a team sport; NOT an individual action.
We can slow the spread of disease when we all work together to do the following —
Increase vaccination rates.
Stay home when we are ill (and isolate ourselves from others).
Practice good cough and sneeze hygiene (sneeze/cough into your elbow).
Wash our hands properly after using the bathroom and before eating.
Mitigating risks associated with the spread of airborne illnesses (COVID, measles, whooping cough) through increasing air circulation, making access to fresh/outdoor air available, and providing masks for individuals to wear.
We do not slow the spread of disease when one person takes these five steps. Rather we slow the spread of disease when communities work together as a whole.
“Being healthy is more than individual actions (eat well and exercise);
being healthy must also include creating and sustaining healthy communities.
Do you have questions about what is happening in Paris? or a favorite Olympic sport you think I should watch? Please let me know…
Rest assured I will be following all the health news coming out of Paris. I’m paying attention to see if athletes are diagnosed with COVID or other infectious diseases, such as whooping cough, measles, or flu. Be sure you are subscribed so you do not miss any breaking health news coming out of Paris (or elsewhere) —
Epi(demiology) Matters is written by Dr. Becky Dawson, PhD MPH — an epidemiologist, teacher, mom, wife, and dedicated yogi. She is a tenured professor at Allegheny College, Research Director at a community hospital, and an exclusive contributor (all things health & medicine) at Erie News Now (NBC/CBS). Her goal is to create healthy communities for all. She writes Epi Matters — first & foremost because epidemiology does matter (to all of us) and she hopes that each post will help to educate and empower readers to be healthy and create healthy communities.
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I will be watching the rowing competition, specifically the 8 men boats. My second cousin Olaf Roggensack is competing again after previously winning a silver medal in Tokyo! GO GERMANY 🇩🇪 🚣♂️