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International biathlon season during the COVID-19 pandemic was based on frequent on-site PCR-testing protocol with rapid result management

The resumption of professional sports during the COVID-19 pandemic has been described in team sports but less in individual sports. The International Biathlon Union implemented a COVID-19 concept for the 2020–2021 season aimed to mitigate the risks of transmission by rules designated for the profess...

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Autores principales: Mjøsund, Katja, Ghaleb, Mahinour, Kolsrud, Lars, Carrabre, Jim, Kainzinger, Florian, Boehm, Daniel, Bitterling, Felix, Wolfarth, Bernd
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10500065/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37720078
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2023.1217463
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author Mjøsund, Katja
Ghaleb, Mahinour
Kolsrud, Lars
Carrabre, Jim
Kainzinger, Florian
Boehm, Daniel
Bitterling, Felix
Wolfarth, Bernd
author_facet Mjøsund, Katja
Ghaleb, Mahinour
Kolsrud, Lars
Carrabre, Jim
Kainzinger, Florian
Boehm, Daniel
Bitterling, Felix
Wolfarth, Bernd
author_sort Mjøsund, Katja
collection PubMed
description The resumption of professional sports during the COVID-19 pandemic has been described in team sports but less in individual sports. The International Biathlon Union implemented a COVID-19 concept for the 2020–2021 season aimed to mitigate the risks of transmission by rules designated for the professional biathlon environment. The “bubble” model was based on regular reverse transcript polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing with rapid results and efficient result management protocol. The objective of this study was report incidence and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among professional biathletes and staff undergoing frequent PCR testing and risk reduction measures during the international season 2020–2021. The efficiency of risk mitigation measures was also evaluated based on the incidence data. During the 4-month season, altogether 22,182 SARS-CoV-2 PCR tests were conducted on all individuals participating in international biathlon season (athletes, team staff and organizing committee). Ninety-six (0.4%) PCR tests were positive and 30% of the positive PCR tests were considered “persistent positive” following recovery from a recent COVID-19 infection. No transmission events were detected following contact with “persistent positive” cases during the season. A great majority of the positive PCR tests were recorded during the first days after arrival in the “bubble”, often in the first entry test taken by the on-site laboratory. In conclusion, a “bubble model” based on frequent PCR testing and hygiene rules was efficient in keeping the infection rate low. The competition activity including international travel was safe, and most of the infections seemed to originate from outside of the “bubble”.
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spelling pubmed-105000652023-09-15 International biathlon season during the COVID-19 pandemic was based on frequent on-site PCR-testing protocol with rapid result management Mjøsund, Katja Ghaleb, Mahinour Kolsrud, Lars Carrabre, Jim Kainzinger, Florian Boehm, Daniel Bitterling, Felix Wolfarth, Bernd Front Sports Act Living Sports and Active Living The resumption of professional sports during the COVID-19 pandemic has been described in team sports but less in individual sports. The International Biathlon Union implemented a COVID-19 concept for the 2020–2021 season aimed to mitigate the risks of transmission by rules designated for the professional biathlon environment. The “bubble” model was based on regular reverse transcript polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing with rapid results and efficient result management protocol. The objective of this study was report incidence and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among professional biathletes and staff undergoing frequent PCR testing and risk reduction measures during the international season 2020–2021. The efficiency of risk mitigation measures was also evaluated based on the incidence data. During the 4-month season, altogether 22,182 SARS-CoV-2 PCR tests were conducted on all individuals participating in international biathlon season (athletes, team staff and organizing committee). Ninety-six (0.4%) PCR tests were positive and 30% of the positive PCR tests were considered “persistent positive” following recovery from a recent COVID-19 infection. No transmission events were detected following contact with “persistent positive” cases during the season. A great majority of the positive PCR tests were recorded during the first days after arrival in the “bubble”, often in the first entry test taken by the on-site laboratory. In conclusion, a “bubble model” based on frequent PCR testing and hygiene rules was efficient in keeping the infection rate low. The competition activity including international travel was safe, and most of the infections seemed to originate from outside of the “bubble”. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-08-31 /pmc/articles/PMC10500065/ /pubmed/37720078 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2023.1217463 Text en © 2023 Mjøsund, Ghaleb, Kolsrud, Carrabre, Kainzinger, Boehm, Bitterling and Wolfarth. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Sports and Active Living
Mjøsund, Katja
Ghaleb, Mahinour
Kolsrud, Lars
Carrabre, Jim
Kainzinger, Florian
Boehm, Daniel
Bitterling, Felix
Wolfarth, Bernd
International biathlon season during the COVID-19 pandemic was based on frequent on-site PCR-testing protocol with rapid result management
title International biathlon season during the COVID-19 pandemic was based on frequent on-site PCR-testing protocol with rapid result management
title_full International biathlon season during the COVID-19 pandemic was based on frequent on-site PCR-testing protocol with rapid result management
title_fullStr International biathlon season during the COVID-19 pandemic was based on frequent on-site PCR-testing protocol with rapid result management
title_full_unstemmed International biathlon season during the COVID-19 pandemic was based on frequent on-site PCR-testing protocol with rapid result management
title_short International biathlon season during the COVID-19 pandemic was based on frequent on-site PCR-testing protocol with rapid result management
title_sort international biathlon season during the covid-19 pandemic was based on frequent on-site pcr-testing protocol with rapid result management
topic Sports and Active Living
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10500065/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37720078
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2023.1217463
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