The Zika virus is not the only threat facing Rio de Janeiro’s athletes and fans. The pools and the track where rowers and canoeists will compete for medals are contaminated with a superbug. It is resistant to all antibiotics. If it gets into a person’s blood, he has only a 50 percent chance of avoiding death.
Superbacteria are responsible for severe urological, gastrological, pulmonary and cardiovascular infections. It is located in the waters of Guanabara Bay. This is where rowers and canoeists will be sailing in less than two months. The waters of as many as five beaches in Rio de Janeiro, including the famous Copacabana, are contaminated, so not only athletes, but also fans and ordinary tourists are at risk.
– Klebsiella pneumoniae is a fairly common bacterium, but in this case extremely dangerous, because it is a strain that produces enzymes that break down antibiotics, even the so-called last chance, which is used to treat severe infections – says Dr. Tomasz Ozorowski, microbiologist, expert of the National Antibiotic Protection Program. What does it mean?
– If the body does not fight the bacterial infection on its own, there is no medicine that can do it. If the bacterium causes, for example, bladder or lung infection, the patient will struggle with it for the rest of his life. And if the blood is infected, the mortality rate is 50 percent, which means that every second infected person will die – adds Dr. Tomasz Ozorowski.
Are Olympians at serious risk and should those who are serious about their health withdraw from participating in the Games?
– Superbacteria is dangerous only to people with severely weakened immunity, e.g. hospitals, undergoing surgeries or catheterization, i.e. people susceptible to infections. The risk occurs when the continuity of tissues is broken, for example when someone has a fresh wound or damaged skin – explains Dr. Ozorowski. What if an athlete, e.g. a rowing machine, collides with another player during a competition and suffers an injury, e.g. is injured by blood? – Athletes aren’t likely to be immunocompromised. Their healthy, strong body should deal with this bacteria, even if the continuity of tissues is interrupted – says Dr. Tomasz Ozorowski.
– It is different with this resistance of athletes – says Dr. Jarosław Krzywański from the Medical Commission of the Polish Olympic Committee, but also reassures: – We follow the situation in Rio all the time. Athletes take probiotics, i.e. strains of the so-called “Good bacteria”, which are designed to prevent the colonization of undesirable ones. Unfortunately, there are no vaccines for the superbug, but those who will start in Rio have received vaccines that are to strengthen the immune system, so that they can defend themselves against infections and infections – adds Dr. Jarosław Krzywański.
The superbug detected in Rio is very similar to Klebsielli pneumonia, which Warsaw hospitals have been fighting unsuccessfully for many months. In both cases it is about Klebsiella pneumonia. The mechanism of their action is identical, except that Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase attacked in Rio, and New Dehli strain in Warsaw. – The number of infections in Warsaw is growing rapidly and it is difficult to stop. This is one of the most dangerous epidemiological situations in Europe. The invention of a cure for this bacterium will probably take several years, says Dr. Tomasz Ozorowski.
And while the Olympians seem to avoid contamination, the situation is not safe.
– Athletes will come into contact with contaminated water and even if they do not get sick themselves, they can become carriers. They’re just dragging the superbug into their country, their city. They can infect household members with it, although they themselves do not have any symptoms – says Dr. Ozorowski.
How can I verify if someone is infecting others with a superbug? – The test involves taking a swab from the rectum, because the bacteria lives in the digestive system – explains Dr. Ozorowski. If it concerns patients who are hospitalized, they should be isolated immediately. Absolutely.
How to remove the threat from the area where the Games will be held? It is not possible. – If the pools were in a closed facility, it would be possible to try disinfection with ozone, drain the water from the pool, disinfect it with chlorine and other highly corrosive agents. When it comes to the waters separated in the sea, lake, swimming area on the river, we cannot do anything – says the microbiologist. Bacteria cannot be removed. “But you definitely need to look for the source of the infection so that the superbug does not spread even more. It can be municipal sewage, to which are discharged, inter alia, those from hospitals with the superbug, says Dr. Ozorowski.
Unfortunately, the waters where the athletes at the Olympics in Rio – swimmers, rowers, canoeists – are created in the open water. So there is no chance that the infection will be removed from them. Anyway, Rio de Janeiro has been struggling unsuccessfully for the second year with the superbug in this area.
– We are doing our best to keep athletes and fans from getting infected. We educate athletes how to protect themselves. We have also created the website www.zdrowerio.pl, where athletes, fans and ordinary tourists will find tips on what to do and what to avoid, so as not to get infected with the bacterium and avoid other dangers – says Dr. Jarosław Krzywański from the Medical Committee of the Polish Olympic Committee.
The Olympics in Rio starts in less than two months – on August XNUMX. It will take over two weeks. Hopefully the fans will come back healthy and the Olympians will come back without the superbugs and the Zika virus, but with medals.
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