Vaccinating against Olympic fever

Doping scandals. 'Skategate.' Judicial meddling and controversial new technology.

These are just a few of the issues that have rocked the Olympic Games in the past.

Now, with Vancouver 2010 just around the corner, athletes and their coaches will have to deal with another Olympic-sized problem: the H1N1 flu virus.

Canadian speed skater Kristina Groves is a medal favourite and one
of many athletes competing in more than one Olympic event.

The highly contagious H1N1 virus poses a special threat to the 2010 Olympic Games. Young people between the ages of 18 and 40 are particularly vulnerable to the virus, and most Olympic athletes fall into this age range.

Additionally, the stress and fatigue of competing in the globally recognized event can weaken athletes' immune systems, making them more susceptible to contracting the flu.

In sports such as hockey, where team members practice, play and train together on a daily basis, a single infection could easily spread to three or four players and have a significant impact on the team's ability to be competitive.

In events such as speed skating, where one athlete can compete in as many as five different events, one infected athlete could lower the national team's medal count, bringing the country's overall ranking in the Games way down.

Dr. Earl Brown, a flu specialist at the University of Ottawa, said the close quarters of Olympic venues are also conducive to the spread of flu.

"You've got people coming from all four corners of the earth… and if you're going to be warehousing people, lots of groups of people and enclosed crowds, that’s where respiratory viruses and H1N1 spread the best."

With vaccination programs in place, however, Brown says there's little reason why H1N1 should not be manageable during Vancouver Olympics.

"Right now steps are being taken with the international vaccine programs, and so hopefully you're covered. I'd be surprised if there is a really big outbreak."

Doctor's orders

"With this medical team they're not guestimating what we should be doing. They know exactly what we should be doing." – Marcel Lacroix

But Team Canada isn't taking any chances. As far as they're concerned, it's doctor's orders from now until February — but that's nothing out of the ordinary.

"We’re doing everything that is suggested in terms of making sure we don't get infected," says Team Canada coach Marcel Lacroix on the phone from the Calgary Olympic Oval. Lacroix coaches long-track speed skating and is currently training his athletes for a series of upcoming World Cup events.

Lacroix says he and his athletes will be diligent about staying away from social situations "where anybody could cough on you," and there is a greater chance of exposure to the flu. It's clear he doesn't plan on deviating from recommendations made by the medical experts who look after his skaters.

"With this medical team they're not guestimating what we should be doing. They know exactly what we should be doing."

Fellow Team Canada speed skating coach Jonathon Cavar agrees.

"We're going to be following [the medical team's] recommendations in terms of flu vaccination and things that we should do in order to stay healthy," he says. His team will follow the same health procedures they observe before every competition, such as good nutrition, post-training recovery and getting plenty of rest.

Falling ill during competition season can affect athletes in more ways than simply keeping them out of competition. In addition to losing valuable training time, recovery can take its toll on an athlete's body thereby increasing the risk of injury.

Canadian figure skater Patrick Chan made headlines last week when a leg injury kept him out of an international skating competition in Moscow. Chan told reporters he was recovering from what he believed was a bout of H1N1, which contributed to a loss of muscle mass, exposing him to injury. Chan will be out of training and competition for a month, meaning he'll only have one chance to compete before the Vancouver Games.

The vaccination fixation

Marcel Lacroix is one of the Canadian speed skating team coaches.

Health Canada approved the vaccination against H1N1 for public use earlier this week. The organization is now set to begin flu clinics across the country, but while the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) recommends that every athlete get vaccinated, it is ultimately up to the athlete.

"The medical team will be making those recommendations, but they'll be taking that in consultation with each athlete and their coach. It definitely wouldn't be anything that would be forced," says Mark Mathies, program coordinator for Team Canada's speed skaters.

As far as dealing with athletes that contract H1N1 during the Olympic Games, "the planning isn't set in stone," says Cavar.

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The medical team is still in the process of figuring out how best to deal with a contagious athlete. One thing is certain: isolation is key.

"We have ideas about how to keep athletes isolated from other team members if one of them gets sick, in order to reduce the chance that it'll spread to the entire team," says Cavar, adding he'll even consider removing an infected athlete from Olympic Village and placing him or her in quarantine.

In September, VANOC issued a series of recommendations aimed at preventing the spread of H1N1 during the Games. Along with getting vaccinated and regularly washing hands, VANOC suggested that athletes refrain from most forms of physical contact including hugging, high-fiving and cheek-to-cheek kissing.

When it comes down to it, Brown says vaccination is ultimately the best way to protect the spread of H1N1, particularly at a crowded event such as the Olympics.

"Vaccine programs are getting underway everywhere, so we should have a pretty well-vaccinated team of athletes and a vaccinated crowd. If that's the case and nothing changes, we should be in good shape."

Dark moments in Olympic history

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