Rapid testing, antivirals win gold for reducing flu at last Olympics

Studies show intense influenza-control measures can work in a specialized setting, but can the model be applied more broadly?

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews staff. Nov. 11, 2002.

There was more happening at last winter's Salt Lake City Olympic Games than the television coverage of sporting events and athletes revealed.

Behind the scenes, a group of physicians was researching whether influenza outbreaks could be contained by combining aggressive surveillance with prescriptions for antivirals for those who developed influenza as well as for their close contacts.

The findings: the approach may have reduced antibiotic use and prevented a large influenza outbreak at the winter games, according to a series of studies presented at the Infectious Disease Society of America annual meeting in Chicago last month.

"It was a beautiful example of really modern medicine -- we were able to diagnose and treat athletes and Olympic workers promptly, as well as prevent flu from infecting lots of folks who certainly would have gotten it," said Merle Sande, MD, an infectious disease specialist and one of the authors of the studies. He is also a professor of medicine at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center in Salt Lake City. "I'm absolutely sure we salvaged some medals with this approach, and we kept antibiotic use to a minimum."

The researchers suggest their strategies may be successfully applied to other situations where people are living in close proximity during the flu season and have ready access to medical care, although further research is needed to determine if they will be cost effective.

"This is the wave of the future," said Dr. Sande. "The drugs are relatively nontoxic. If you're not vaccinated, living in close quarters and there's a lot of flu, taking these drugs probably makes sense." [...]