The European Health Agency has published recommendations for health authorities and participants to protect themselves from the threats posed by long-duration, mass participation public events.
It is expected that the Euro Cup and the Olympic Games attract millions of national and foreign tourists this summer to Europewhich is why a European health agency has published guidelines aimed at avoiding the health risks posed by mass gatherings.
The Euro 2024 football championship began on Friday (June 14) in Germany and will last until July 14, when the last two qualified teams will play the final match in Berlin. During this month, thousands of football fans will travel throughout the country to attend the matches in ten selected host cities.
According to UEFA, more than two million tickets have been sold to fans from 190 countries. France, the other great host of the summer, expects more than 15 million visitors during the Olympic and Paralympic Games which will be held from July 26 to September 8.
In anticipation of these mass gathering events, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has issued recommendations for public health authorities to prepare for possible risks.
El ECDC define como mass gatherings those events in which “the number of attendees is sufficient to overload the planning and response resources of the community, city or nation hosting the event”, and warns that they raise several public health challenges to the national authorities of the organizing countries, as participants come from many countries and there are often large crowds.
What recommendations are there?
The recommendations point out multiple factors that can increase the risks of threats to public healthasuch as the transmission of imported infectious diseases, the increase in vulnerable people, the sale of food and beverages through street vendors, the intensification of risk behaviors such as alcohol and drug consumption, and pressure on health systems.
For avoid excessive workload According to national health authorities, preparation for mass gatherings usually begins two or more years before the event. ECDC recommended that the main strategy for the public health sector was to strengthen existing surveillance systems and avoid developing entirely new systems for events.
According to the agency, improving surveillance capabilities should include digitization of periodic epidemiological and threat reports, strengthening food and waterborne disease testing frameworks, and improving vector surveillance and ventilation in crowded spaces.
Recommendations include informing the general public attending events about the vaccines necessary, the general hygiene rulesincluding handwashing and proper food handling, and protection from extreme weather and insects.
Other instructions refer to alcohol and drug use and advice on safe sexual practices. Previous cases of outbreaks linked to mass events include cases of legionellosis – severe pneumonia – in Edinburgh before the London 2012 Olympic Games and a recent outbreak of botulism in France during the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
However, the ECDC noted that, in most cases, it may be difficult to determine if an outbreak that occurs in temporal association with a mass event would have occurred if the meeting had not taken place.
