Monitoring acute diseases during the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games

Abstract

The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games (the XXVII Olympiad) will be the biggest peacetime event ever held in Australia. During the Games, all public health decisions will be centralised, with daily briefing sessions held to review emerging public health issues and facilitate responses. Infectious diseases will be monitored and reported through the Olympic Surveillance System, with particular attention to foodborne diseases and conditions spread via the respiratory route. This system relies heavily on the cooperation of key notifiers such as emergency departments, laboratories and general practitioners. The lessons learned during the Games, and the new and enhanced systems and linkages that have been developed to support it, will strengthen future disease surveillance in NSW.

Illicit drug‐related harm during the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games: implications for public health surveillance and action

“…As part of public health preparations for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, the NSW Department of Health developed an enhanced and comprehensive surveillance system using data from multiple sources (Thackway et al . 2000).…”

“…1998; Hodgetts & Cooke 1999), the purpose of which is to ensure rapid and effective public health responses. During the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, the NSW Department of Health undertook enhanced surveillance for adverse events due to illicit drug use, as well as for communicable diseases and injuries (Thackway et al . 2000).…”

Mass gathering medicine: a leisure or necessity?

“…In previous reports of health related issues during sports activities include: heat‐related illnesses, waterborne illnesses, sexually transmitted infections and other possible communicable diseases (6–8). Another consideration is the nature and seasonal variation of endemic and possibly imported diseases into the hosting country (9). It goes without doubt that the notification and surveillance of infectious diseases in these settings rely heavily on the collaboration of key personnel, working in emergency departments, laboratories and general practice (9).…”

“…Another consideration is the nature and seasonal variation of endemic and possibly imported diseases into the hosting country (9). It goes without doubt that the notification and surveillance of infectious diseases in these settings rely heavily on the collaboration of key personnel, working in emergency departments, laboratories and general practice (9). As these personnel may not be familiar with non‐endemic diseases, it is of paramount importance to have educational programmes and possibly help‐lines for rapid communication and inquiries about possible outbreaks.…”

The Sydney Olympics: A win for public health

“…Major components included enhanced surveillance of communicable diseases; patient presentations to sentinel emergency departments; medical encounters at Olympic venues; surveillance of cruise ships; environmental and food safety inspections; surveillance for bioterrorism; and global epidemic intelligence. 4,5 The system provided daily updates from these data sources over a 38-day period, commencing three weeks before the Opening Ceremony and finishing three days after the Closing Ceremony.…”