NIH-funded study will track Zika infections on U.S. Olympic team

Athletes, coaches and staff traveling to Brazil as part of the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics will be monitored by researchers for potential exposure to the Zika virus.

The study will be funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), with the research being led by Carrie L. Byington, MD, an expert on viral and bacterial infections in infants and children from the University of Utah. Byington had already been named chair of the infectious disease advisory group set by the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC).

“We partnered with the USOC to improve knowledge of the dynamics of Zika infection, so that we can better protect the health of athletes and staff who will participate in the 2016 Games,” Byington said in a statement. “This ongoing relationship also opens avenues for long-term research that promises to benefit not only the Americas, but also other regions facing the emergence of the virus.”

The research will focus on the risk travelers have of contracting the disease, which factors influence the course of infection, find out where in the body the virus persists (such as blood, semen, vaginal secretions or salivia) and how long the virus remains present in those fluids.

The reproductive outcomes of the selected members of the Olympic team will be monitored for one year after the games. That could be an important time period—a preliminary study found about 50 out of 150 Brazil-bound participants said they or their partner planned to become pregnant within 12 months of the Olympics.

“Zika virus infection poses many unknown risks, especially to those of reproductive age,” Catherine Y. Spong, MD, acting director of NICHD, said in a statement. “Monitoring the health and reproductive outcomes of members of the U.S. Olympic team offers a unique opportunity to answer important questions and help address an ongoing public health emergency.”

The World Health Organization said in May that moving the Olympics wouldn’t “significantly alter the international spread of Zika virus,” in response to a letter from dozens of health experts recommending the games be canceled, moved or postponed. However, some Olympic athletes, including golfer Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, have announced they won’t compete in Rio de Janeiro because of the risk of contracting Zika.

While NIH is funding this Zika study, Congress has yet to settle differences over how to provide extra dollars to health agencies for efforts to combat the virus. A $1.1 billion funding bill failed to pass in the Senate after amendments were included regarding money for Planned Parenthood over the objections of Democrats.