France prepares disease prevention plan for 2024 Olympics

Experience has shown that sporting events that bring together large numbers of visitors from all over the world to the venue are unlikely to carry the risk of disease. In fact, there were no worrying cases at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil or the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Only a few cases of measles were recorded at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, and only about 60 cases of gastroenteritis occurred during the 2006 World Cup in Munich, Germany.

According to figures released in January by the Paris Tourism Office, France expects to welcome 11.3 million visitors to the capital during the Olympic Games, which will take place from July 26 to August 11. This will be followed by 3.9 million visitors to the Paralympic Games, which will be held from August 28 to September 8. About 40% of these visitors will come from different parts of France outside the Ile-de-France capital region, while international visitors are estimated at 13%.

Good control of dengue fever

In France, the Aedes mosquito has been present since 2004, bringing with it the risk of dengue fever, malaria and chikungunya. Arboviruses are viruses transmitted by arthropods, including mosquitoes, causing diseases that spread from infected people to healthy people. Authorities closely monitor the disease. dengue fever, an illness characterized by high fever and in very rare cases can become life-threatening.

In 2023, the capital Paris recorded more than 2,000 imported cases of international visitors or residents traveling with the virus from abroad. In addition, the French Ministry of Public Health identified 45 cases of dengue fever in the country.

The Aedes mosquito has been found in at least 71 regions across France, including all the Olympic venues, excluding the northern regions. Meanwhile, 2024 is predicted to be the peak year for dengue in Latin America and the Caribbean Antilles.

The Pan American Health Organization said there were more than 3.5 million cases of dengue in the region in the first quarter of 2024, nearly equal to the 4.5 million cases in all of 2023.

In an interview with Le Monde (France) published on April 3, entomologist Didier Fontenille, honorary research director at the Institute of Development Research and a member of the French Committee for Health Risk Monitoring and Prediction (Covars), said that 2023 is not a very favorable year for mosquitoes in France, due to frequent droughts and heat waves.

Didier Fontenille is also not sure if the same situation will be repeated this year. “It will depend a little on the weather, but the Olympics have a long program and take place in several different cities,” he commented.

Preventive measures have been put in place, including the elimination of water-holding objects that promote the breeding of mosquito larvae. More than 20 insecticide sprayings have been carried out in the area of several streets surrounding the residences of arbovirosis cases in 2023 by the Health Authority of the Ile-de-France capital region.

Aedes mosquitoes and dengue fever are concerns for Olympic Organizing Committee (Photo: 20Minutes)

Ensure food hygiene and safety

The hygiene of the millions of meals served in and around Olympic venues is also a major issue, according to the French Ministry of Agriculture. Suppliers of meals for athletes, journalists, volunteers and Olympic staff must be systematically controlled. Catering providers for spectators and visitors must comply with “targeted and intensified control measures according to an on-site risk analysis.”

According to Maud Faipoux, Director General of the Food Directorate of the French Ministry of Agriculture, inspections aimed at preparing for the Olympics have been carried out since 2023 and have been “massively deployed” since January this year. By the end of April 2023, 100 inspections had been carried out in the Ile-de-France region and 18 establishments were forced to close due to quality failures.

At the Olympic venues, 300 inspection teams responsible for food safety control have been set up. Recently, 31 additional inspection teams have been temporarily added to speed up the control work, of which 26 will be assigned to the Ile-de-France capital region.

Covid-19 is still under control

Sharing with Le Monde (France) in an article published on April 3, Mr. Mircea Sofonea, an epidemiologist and expert on the evolution of infectious diseases at the University of Montpellier, said that although it is known that high temperatures, ultraviolet rays and low humidity can contribute to preventing the development of the virus, its ability to transmit is still too high.

Previous experience at the Bayonne Festival last summer showed that even though entertainment activities took place outdoors in hot weather, crowds still posed a risk of spreading the disease.

Along with that, there are still many other factors that can promote the spread during the Olympics, such as "too many people in a confined space, the decline in people's immunity after the Covid-19 pandemic, the emergence of many new variants and sub-variants", which can still cause the virus to spread at an unpredictable speed.

In fact, SARS-CoV-2 continued to evolve with the JN.1 variant and took just over three months to spread throughout France this past winter. However, according to Ms. Brigitte Autran, a member of the French Committee for Health Risk Monitoring and Prediction (Covars), there is no sign that a new variant will appear in the near future.

“At this stage, Covid-19 is not the risk that worries us the most, because we are trained regularly and are able to respond in case of an outbreak,” said Marie Baville, director of the Health Crisis Center of the General Health Administration (DGS), adding that the virus is “being monitored regularly.”

In addition, a free booster vaccination campaign is scheduled to run from April 15 to June 16, just before the Games, targeting people over 80, people with immunodeficiencies, people working in residential facilities for dependent elderly people and anyone at very high risk due to their personal health conditions.

Model of the 2024 Olympic Athletes' Village in Saint-Denis. (Photo: Paris 2024)

Strengthen measures to prevent heatstroke

In addition to the risk of disease transmission, one of the main concerns for the 2024 Games is the risk of heat-related illnesses. With global temperatures rising, weather-related health threats such as heatstroke are emerging. Therefore, strong measures are needed to reduce the risks.

In addition to providing clean water stations or areas to avoid the heat, the Organizing Committee also focuses on the health and safety of participants, especially at outdoor events. Medical staff must be trained to recognize early signs of heatstroke, thereby providing first aid to victims before transferring them to the hospital.

Le Monde newspaper (France) also reported that in the city of Montpellier (southern France), researchers are developing training outfits that adapt to the new high-temperature weather conditions and considering additional measures to protect people from the negative effects of heat.

Respiratory health and air pollution risks

The Lancet Planetary Health, a global interdisciplinary journal, has ranked Paris fourth in its list of European cities most affected by deadly air pollution. Paris records thousands of premature deaths each year from severe respiratory diseases caused by poor air quality.

With millions of athletes, visitors and journalists expected to gather for the 2024 Olympics, air pollution is becoming an even bigger concern. Paris authorities are implementing strict emission controls, promoting sustainable public transport and increasing green spaces that could improve air quality and protect public health during the Games.

According to the website of the Pierre-Simon Laplace University Research Institute (IPSL), the pollution vacuum cleaners will be installed on a trial basis in the square of the athletes' village in the city of Seine-Saint-Denis (northern suburbs of Paris). But this is only a temporary measure and only in a local area.

Environmental pollution is a difficult problem in the process of organizing the Olympics. (Photo: Ville de Paris)

The Paris 2024 Olympics will be a new comprehensive test of methods to improve athletes' resilience, said Sébastien Racinais, director of environmental issues at the Centre for Professional Resources and Sports Performance (CREPS) in Montpellier.

Referring to the recently launched Pollusport research campaign to look at the effects of environmental pollution on athletes, Gilles Forêt, lecturer and researcher at the Laboratory for Diversity of Atmospheric Systems (LISA), told IPSL’s news site: “Our study involves high-level professional athletes, but we hope that it will be able to provide useful recommendations for all sportspeople in the city.”

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