If you've begun stoking Olympic fever by watching trials for U.S. athletes, it may be of interest to know some of the ways London officials have been readying the stage for the games, which open in three weeks.
In a Spoonful of Medicine Q&A posted today, Brian McCloskey, MD, lead health director for the Olympics, discusses infectious disease control, biomedical tools for gathering data and health surveillance systems in place for this summer's festivities.
On the topic of tracking infectious diseases, McClosky says:
We will monitor all infectious diseases, but the main ones that will likely be an issue for us will be gastrointestinal diseases such as food poisoning and infectious diseases such as measles. There have been measles outbreaks in Europe and in UK in the past couple of years and those haven’t gone away.
Previously: Is the International Olympic Committee’s policy governing sex verification fair? and Continuing pollution restrictions used during Beijing Olympics could reduce cancer rates
Photo by rileyroxx
