Rio Officials: Swine Flu the Biggest Health Concern for Olympics

(ATR) Brazilian health officials believe their biggest worry for Rio 2016 won’t be the Zika virus but rather H1N1, also known as the swine flu.

Daniel Soranz, the municipal secretary of health for the city of Rio de Janeiro, told a select group of journalists including Around the Rings that the H1N1 virus is the biggest threat to public health during the winter months in Rio.

The Olympic Games in August will take place during the heart of Rio’s winter. Soranz says that the elderly, children up to five years of age and chronic disease patients are most at risk.

But he wants to get the word out that visitors should get vaccinated for the flu before coming to Rio. Soranz says the flu vaccines available in the northern hemisphere are the same ones that are used in Brazil.

Soranz is also urging visitors to get vaccinated for measles, rubella and mumps, which are also still a problem in Brazil.

He says yellow fever is not a problem in Rio but recommends those who plan to travel to other areas of Brazil get vaccinated for the disease. Soranz says everyone traveling to Brazil should contact their local medical authorities to get more information on what immunizations they need.

Joao Grangeiro, the director of medical services for the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee, is pleased with how the local media is now paying attention to the flu. He said "Up to 30 days ago, we believed the media was overly focused on Zika. But now H1N1 is the concern and the media is focusing on that."

As for Zika, Grangeiro believes that the efforts to control mosquitoes during the recent summer months in Brazil could lead to even fewer mosquitoes and even fewer Zika cases than expected during the colder months.

The normally colder temperatures and lack of rainfall in August and September means fewer mosquitoes and what Soranz calls a "very low prevalence" of Zika.

For those spectators who do fall ill during the Rio Games, there will be 300 clinics around the city to provide health care. An app will be available to help visitors find the health care unit nearest them.

Written and reported by Gerard Farekin Rio de Janeiro

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