title: Illness during the 2010 Super 14 Rugby Union tournament - a prospective study involving 22 676 player days.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Illness accounts for a significant proportion of consultations with a team physician travelling with elite athletes.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the incidence, type, cause and consequences of illness in Rugby Union players participating in a 16-week tournament.
  
  
  METHODS
  8 teams participating in the 2010 Super 14 Rugby tournament Participants A cohort of 259 elite rugby players from eight teams was recruited.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All players were followed daily over the 16-week competition period (22 676 player days). Each day, team physicians completed an illness log with 100% compliance. Information included the daily squad size and illness details including system affected, final diagnosis, type and onset of symptoms, training/match days lost and suspected cause.
  
  
  METHODS
  Incidence of illness (illness per 1000 player days).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The incidence of illness in the cohort was 20.7/1000 player days (95% CI 18.5 to 23.1) with the highest incidence of illness in the respiratory system (6.4: 95% CI 5.5 to 7.3), gastrointestinal system (5.6: 95% CI 4.9 to 6.6) and the skin and subcutaneous tissue (4.6; 95% CI 4.0 to 5.4). Infections accounted for 54.5% of all illness and 26.1% of illness resulted in time loss of ≥1 day. In over 50% of illnesses, symptoms were present for ≥1 day before being reported to the team physician.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Infective illness involving the respiratory tract and gastrointestinal tract together with dermatological illness was common in elite rugby players participating in this international tournament. A delay in reporting of symptoms >24 h could have important clinical implications in player medical care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Biology, UCT/MRC Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, Newlands, Cape Town 7700, South Africa. mschwell@iafrica.com
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schwellnus
authors.forename: Wayne
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Derman
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Page
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lambert
authors.forename: Clint
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Readhead
authors.forename: Craig
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kohler
authors.forename: Esme
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jordaan
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kara
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: Org
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Strauss
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Webb
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D000208:Acute Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005538:Football / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D013178:Sports Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*