Recovery time for swimmers who caught E. coli at Paris Olympics could be up to three weeks – doctor

Swimmers who contracted an E. coli infection after swimming in the Seine River during the Olympic Games may need several days to three weeks to recover, sports doctor Alexandre Rezepov told .

Le Figaro reports that two New Zealand triathletes have developed symptoms of intestinal infection after swimming in the Seine last week. One of the sick was Hayden Wild, who won silver in Paris. He said his first symptoms of the disease appeared two days after the competition. Other cases of infection have already been reported.

— Escherichia coli is a microbe that is naturally present in the body environment, but in certain areas of the intestine. This is important. If the microbe ends up in the gastric tract or in the small intestine, it leads to inflammation, the onset of enteritis and inflammatory manifestations. This is what has manifested itself in athletes, I think.

As for recovery time, it depends on the dose – the amount of E. coli that entered the body, its type and aggressiveness. Recovery time can vary from several days to three weeks.

The most difficult thing after the disease is the appearance of the carrier status. This is already a chronic course of the disease. But it will not affect his career in any way, modern antibiotics and therapy will allow him to fully recover, Rezepov told .

The Olympic Games in the French capital will end on August 11.

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