MINERVA MEDICA COPYRIGHT ® Report of a serious reportable communicable disease at a major sporting event A European Youth Olympic Sports Festival (EYOF), in Jaca, Northern Aragon, Spain, involving 1 500 athletes, from 43 coun- tries was held in January for 7 days. The event was marred by a case of type B Neisseria meningitidis. The usual care of the patient was performed in a local hospital. He eventually made a full recovery. The case was reported to the Local Health Authority and the National Public Health authority of the patient’s country. Their advice was to treat the core case, give prophylactic therapy to the inner circle (28 athletes and officials) and surveillance of the other close contacts (84 total) with tem- perature and symptom review daily. They advised against further information being given to the rest of the athletes and offi- cials, in case it might give rise to a panic situation. The dilemma of the responsible physicians was that 1 500 athletes were tra- veling back to 43 countries within the incubation period of the bacterial meningitis. It was decided that informing each coun- try was appropriate. This was done at the event by informing the Chef of the Missions and writing to the Secretary Generals of each National Olympic Committee attending. This was the fir- st serious contagious disease at a major sporting event. The way in which the wider dispersing attendees were informed at the event should form the basis of management at sporting events in the likelihood of a serious communicable disease. KEY WORDS: Sports - Neisseria meningitidis - Child. T he organism was a type B Neisseria meningi- tidis for which there is no vaccine. 1, 2 This meningococcal disease occurs in about one in 100 000 people per year. 3, 4 In the setting here described, this was the first case in the region that year. The previ- ous year there were 3 cases in a population of 230 000. Besides children, it normally affects 15-19 years- old-youths. 5, 6 The incubation period usually ranges from 3 to 5 days (up to 10 days according to some reports). 1 Meningococcal disease occurs year-round even if most cases occur during winter and early spring. 5 The transmission pathway is usually by per- son to person from droplets from the upper respira- tory tract. 3 Immunity develops in most patients within 14 days after exposure. 1 The risk of invasive disease varies with environment and host factors but also critically depend on the strain of the disease acquired. There is a case fatality rate of 10% mortality. 1, 3 Carriage is very common and is present in 2% of children under 5 years of age, 25% in 15-19 year old subjects. Carriage usually lasts for 21 months 7, 8 but only a small proportion of carried strains are respon- sible for invasive disease. Carriage is increased by smoking cigarettes, overcrowded households, pre- ceding influenza and military recruits. 1, 3, 9 1 European Olympic Committees Medical and Scientific Commission 2 Department of Health Sciences, IUSM, University of Rome, Rome, Italy 3 Institute of Sport Sciences, University of Wien, Wien, Austria 4 Department of Sport Medicine, University of Ankara, Ankara, Turkey Address reprint requests to: F. Pigozzi, IUSM, University of Rome, Piazza Lauro De Bosis 15, 00194 Roma, Italy. E-mail: fabio.pigozzi@iusm.it J. CUMMISKEY 1 , P. BORRIONE 2 , N. BACHL 1, 3 , E. ERGEN 1, 4 , F. PIGOZZI 1, 2 Vol. 48 - No. 2 THE JOURNAL OF SPORTS MEDICINE AND PHYSICAL FITNESS 125 POSITION STATEMENT J SPORTS MED PHYS FITNESS 2008;48:125-8