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Olympic Swimmers 'Certain' To Pick Up Virus From Three Teaspoons of Rio Water (independent.co.uk) 280

An anonymous reader writes from a report via The Independent: The Associated Press has released a 16-month-long study that shows just days before the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro begin, the waterways in the city are teeming with dangerous viruses and bacteria. The report says both athletes and tourists are at risk of getting ill from the contaminated water. "The first results of the study published over a year ago showed viral levels at up to 1.7 million times what would be considered worrisome in the United States or Europe," reports The Independent. "At those concentrations, swimmers and athletes who ingest just three teaspoons of water are almost certain to be infected with viruses that can cause stomach and respiratory illnesses and, more rarely, heart and brain inflammation -- although whether they actually fall ill depends on a series of factors including the strength of the individual's immune system." Many of the athletes have been taking antibiotics, bleaching oars and donning plastic suits and gloves to prevent illnesses, but antibiotics combat bacterial infections, not viruses. The AP investigation found that infectious adenovirus readings turned up at nearly 90 percent of the test sites over 16 months of testing. What's more is that "the beaches often have levels of bacterial markers for sewage pollution that would be cause for concern abroad -- and sometimes even exceed Rio state's lax water safety standards," reports The Independent.
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Olympic Swimmers 'Certain' To Pick Up Virus From Three Teaspoons of Rio Water

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  • by Yoda222 ( 943886 ) on Tuesday August 02, 2016 @05:02AM (#52626895)
    Just don't take your teaspoon while you swim. Problem solved.
  • by Chrisq ( 894406 ) on Tuesday August 02, 2016 @05:10AM (#52626909)
    The water-sports athletes at Rio will be up shit creek.
  • I don't get it. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Ecuador ( 740021 ) on Tuesday August 02, 2016 @05:16AM (#52626927) Homepage

    They've known for years and it is not uncommon for the Olympic city to host an event in another city (e.g. London held Sailing etc in Dorset), why did they HAVE to have these events in the dangerous Rio waters? I mean sure, a city that is on the coast, unlike others like the aforementioned London, COULD host water sports IF there are suitable waters. In this case there are no suitable waters, why couldn't they just move the event? It is not like they spent money for infrastructure for Sailing - in fact they didn't spend the promised money for sewage treatment, so they could just move the venue at any time.

    • Follow the money (Score:5, Insightful)

      by sjbe ( 173966 ) on Tuesday August 02, 2016 @05:24AM (#52626951)

      In this case there are no suitable waters, why couldn't they just move the event?

      A great question. I think the answer is that the IOC doesn't actually give a shit (pun intended) about the well being of the athletes as long as they get paid. They let the Russians into the games despite CLEAR evidence [amazonaws.com] of state sponsored doping. The IOC could easily have set benchmarks for water quality and time tables and made arrangements for a backup venue if the cleanup couldn't happen in time. But they couldn't be bothered. Why? I think the answer will be found if you follow the money.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by phantomfive ( 622387 )

        The IOC could easily have set benchmarks for water quality and time tables and made arrangements for a backup venue if the cleanup couldn't happen in time.

        They still can (and should!!) do that right now. It would cost a little bit of money, but they could easily say, "we are moving the rowing and swimming to the Mississippi River outside Council Bluffs." Alternately, they could go to Europe, or Australia. I guarantee there is a venue that would accept them at this late date. Even if they decided to change next week, it would still be ok. Even if they had to delay those portions of the olympics to next month, it would be ok. It might even be better, because it

    • by cdrudge ( 68377 )

      It was some time ago to either move the open water events from the bay, or at least have a backup plan if/when the waters weren't cleaned up. The world sailing body was fired [usnews.com] over pushing to move it.

  • by MrKaos ( 858439 ) on Tuesday August 02, 2016 @05:17AM (#52626933) Journal

    And then bring it home to the rest of the world.

    An example of the Olympic games forward planning and their high standards.

  • by geekmux ( 1040042 ) on Tuesday August 02, 2016 @06:26AM (#52627151)

    "The first results of the study published over a year ago showed viral levels at up to 1.7 million times what would be considered worrisome in the United States or Europe,...the beaches often have levels of bacterial markers for sewage pollution that would be cause for concern abroad -- and sometimes even exceed Rio state's lax water safety standards..."

    When viral levels are that high, why are you trying to convince anyone that Rio even has a documented "water safety standard"? You've got to be fucking kidding me with that shit.

    With those kinds of "standards", bleach would considered a safe alternative to drinking water, asbestos is just a "mild irritant" in construction, and DDT is considered a flavor additive in food production.

    No wonder no one gives a shit about Zika infections anymore.

  • The Olympic Dream (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Virtucon ( 127420 ) on Tuesday August 02, 2016 @06:55AM (#52627259)

    Given all of Brazil's problems, was hosting the Olympics such a good idea? Never mind that the FIFA World Cup nearly bankrupted the country, they're now putting on a show that they can't afford. They have rampant poverty in Rio, pollution issues, body parts washing up on beaches and even Zika yet here we are about to have another meaningless Olympic games in a country that won't easily recover from it.

    • by johanw ( 1001493 )

      > Given all of Brazil's problems, was hosting the Olympics such a good idea?

      Of course not, it wastes a lot of money that they arenever going to get back. In democratic countries in Europe where they asked the population they always said "NO" to politicians trying to get their moment of fame when organizing a big sporting event with someone else's money.

    • was hosting the Olympics such a good idea?

      It depends on the size of the bribe. If the bribe was large enough, it was a great idea for the bribed ones. Otherwise, they are just imbeciles.

      How many cash, Brazilian whores and coke would have been needed to convince you to happily have exactly the same idea? Do you think you're more expensive to corrupt than the actual decision makers? I doubt it.

    • by DarkOx ( 621550 )

      And Zika is the really sad thing. Just look at Florida right now. We have essentially one neighborhood with a Zika outbreak. Why is that? Well lets see the mosquito that carries it has a pretty limited range and the path the infection spreads by is really mosquito -> person -> mosquito -> person ... So we can basically assume that since all the rest of Miami isn't a Zika hotzone it did not get there thru natural geographic expansion. Zika is here because someone went somewhere got infected tha

  • by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 02, 2016 @07:00AM (#52627281)

    The IOC committee members who selected Rio for the Olympics should be require to pre-swim the open water race courses. Also I expect all IOC committee members to give up their hotel suits to athletes whose residence rooms are not ready. Because the games are about the athletes, right?

  • So are swimmers not athletes now?
  • by Deadstick ( 535032 ) on Tuesday August 02, 2016 @08:25AM (#52627743)
  • Third world country has third world water quality. Film at 11.

    Hell, many first world countries have trouble with water quality, the US included. What would be surprising -- shocking, really -- is if Rio had pristine water with all of the slums and the lack of sanitation.

  • There are approximately 10500 athletes expected to participate in the 2016 Rio games.

    What is the number of athletes you expect to be sickened, injured, or killed during the event?

    Notes: the "sickness" window extends to sicknesses identified up to 90d after the Olympics.
    These must be exceptional injuries: pulling a hamstring running a race would NOT count. Pulling a hamstring fleeing a collapsing stadium WOULD count. Kidnapping, while not necessarily technically an injury, would count. It doesn't have to

  • That's one incentive to break a world record.
  • by Ogive17 ( 691899 ) on Tuesday August 02, 2016 @11:04AM (#52628861)
    I've been to Brazil multiple times. There are plenty of beautiful locations and the people are fantastic. Rio is the face of Brazil, but other than the famous beaches and Christo and Sugar Loaf mountain, it's a nasty city.

    I feel bad for the people because most of the developed world is now making fun of their country. They do have plenty of issues and maybe some will improve with the visibility. Politicians made promises they couldn't keep (go figure) and the corrupt IOC took enough bribes to make it worth their while. Now the citizens, athletes, and fans will suffer.

    I think Brazil could have done a wonderful job had it not been Rio and if they could utilize many of their existing structures for events. It might be better for everyone if future games are held in a country, not just a key city.
  • using bottled water

  • I'm not so sure that an extinguished gut microbiome is going to help their immune systems fight viruses.

    Microbiota regulates immune defense against respiratory tract influenza A virus infection
    http://www.pnas.org/content/108/13/5354.short

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