US hospitals are preparing fora mass invasions of potentially deadly infections and viruses spread by millions of fans attending this summer's FIFA World Cup.
Doctors and virologists fear the huge influx of fans from locations across the world could help potentially fatal bugs such as measles, hepatitis A, typhoid, malaria, SARS and even Ebola take hold in the United States.
Speaking to a local health journal HealthBeat Doctor Vikramjit Mukherjee, chief of critical care and the special pathogens program at Bellevue Hospital, in New York, said: "We’re looking at it as if it’s a huge global migration event.
He added: “The whole health care system in New York City will be a bit on alert for all of these events.”
Around 10 million people are expected to head for North Americathis summer when 48 teams will battle itout to decide who is the best in the world.
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The tournament will be jointly hosted by sixteen cities, eleven in the United States, three in Mexico, and two in Canada.
Dr Mukherjee added:"We’re training a lot, through June, we’re going to the hospitals next to the MetLife stadium (which is hosting fixtures), where people will be more prone to present with symptoms, and making sure their front-end capabilities are ready."
According to the research paper, "Sports fever! Getting the ball rolling to prevent infections at the World Cup™ and beyond", which has been published ahead of the World Cup on theUS National Library of Medicine, the tournament will "substantially increase transmission of infectious diseases."
Source: Daily Express :: World Feed
