Observational studyPloS one2021
Increased risk of respiratory viral infections in elite athletes: A controlled study.
Observational study in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Identifying Host-Characteristics and Management Risk Factors in a California Equine Herpesvirus Myeloencephalopathy (EHM) Outbreak.Veterinary sciences · 2026Article
- Respiratory viral infections in professional ice hockey teams-a one-season observational study.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Article
- A Comparison of Training, Injury, Illness, Sleep, Wellbeing and Stress Between Developing Elite and Recreational Athletes.European journal of sport science · 2025Article
- Vaccinations for Elite Athletes.Vaccines · 2025Article
- Beyond physical exhaustion: Understanding overtraining syndrome through the lens of molecular mechanisms and clinical manifestation.Sports medicine and health science · 2025Review
- Viral acute respiratory illnesses in elite athletes: A 12-month controlled follow-up study.PloS one · 2025Article
- Sport and exercise during viral acute respiratory illness-Time to revisit.Journal of sport and health science · 2024Article
- Contraction of Respiratory Viral Infection During air Travel: An Under-Recognized Health Risk for Athletes.Sports medicine - open · 2024Article
- Acute respiratory infections hamper training and competition in cross-country skiers, especially in those with asthma.International journal of circumpolar health · 2023Article
- Respiratory aerosol particle emission and simulated infection risk is greater during indoor endurance than resistance exercise.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- Article
- Non-SARS-CoV-2 Respiratory Viruses in Athletes at Major Winter Sport Events, 2021 and 2022.Emerging infectious diseases · 2022Article
- Respiratory Viral Infections in Athletes: Many Unanswered Questions.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2022Article
- Survey of Viral Reactivations in Elite Athletes: A Case-Control Study.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRespiratory symptoms are commonly recognised in elite athletes. The occurrence, etiology and clinical presentation of the illnesses in athletes is unclear.
methodsWe performed a prospective controlled study of respiratory viral infections in Team Finland during Nordic World Ski Championships 2019. There were 26 athletes and 36 staff members. Nasal swabs were taken at the onset of a symptom and on days 1, 7, and 13 during the follow-up of 14 days. Respiratory viruses were searched for by 3 different molecular multiplex tests. Fifty-two matched control subjects were studied in Finland during the same period.
resultsTen out of 26 (38%) athletes, 6 out of 36 (17%) staff, and 3 out of 52 (6%) control subjects experienced symptoms of respiratory infection (p = 0.0013). The relative risks for acquiring symptomatic infection were 6.7 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.1-21.0) of athletes and 2.9 (95% CI, 0.84-10.0) of the staff as compared to the controls. Asymptomatic infections were identified in 8%, 22%, and 19%, respectively (p = 0.30). The etiology of respiratory infections was detected in 84% of the cases.
conclusionThe athletes had a 7-fold increase in the risk of illness compared to normally exercising control subjects.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.