Jannik Sinner to miss 2024 Paris Olympics due to tonsillitis. The Italian, world number 1 in tennis, stops and gives up one of the main – if not the main – appointments of 2024. The news about the 22-year-old South Tyrolean’s withdrawal monopolizes social media. There is no shortage of ‘gut’ reactions, with questions from fans and enthusiasts who ask: “Could Sinner have played anyway?”.
Why Sinner Can’t Play With Tonsillitis
Doctors have the answer. “Jannik Sinner’s tonsillitis? Infectious diseases are always lurking and above all they have shown throughout history that they make no difference: they affect young and old, rich and poor”, athletes and non-athletes, Matteo Bassetti, director of Infectious Diseases at the San Martino Polyclinic Hospital in Genoa, tells Adnkronos Salute. “In some ways they are truly ‘democratic’, they really affect everyone. I feel sorry for Sinner, I feel sorry that he cannot participate in the Olympics. Of course we must remember that infections unfortunately weaken the body and therefore can also make people less efficient from an athletic point of view”.
“When it was said that Sinner had a fever and had taken a swab, which was negative for Sars-CoV-2, I had already said it: this is the paradigmatic example of how fever and sore throat do not always and only mean Covid. There are dozens of other microorganisms that cause” these disorders, the expert specifies. “They can be bacteria or other viruses. It could be strep or another bacteria causing tonsillitis.it could be a virus of any kind, even mononucleosis causes tonsillitis. I repeat, infectious diseases are many and always lurking”.
When is Sinner coming back?
When will he be able to play? “For a return to operation and performance of an athlete at the highest levels” affected by tonsillitis, “it takes at least a fortnight”explains virologist Fabrizio Pregliasco to Adnkronos Salute. In August, in about fifteen days, Sinner will be called to begin the season on American hard courts in view of the US Open starting in about a month.
“Tonsillitis should not be underestimated,” emphasizes the director of the School of Specialization in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine at the University of Milan. Caution is valid “for everyone: for children, who often suffer from it, but also for adults,” in whom these infections “certainly become challenging. There is fever and there is generalized inflammation, therefore certainly also a reduction in physical fitness,” highlights Pregliasco.
What would happen if an athlete suffering from tonsillitis took to the field for matches lasting 2-3 hours? By subjecting oneself to efforts, one also runs “the risk of worsening the course and evolution of the disease”. Finally, the time needed for therapy “with anti-inflammatories or antibiotics is needed. A treatment that varies depending on the nature of the tonsillitis, viral or bacterial. It seems to me that in Sinner’s case Covid has been excluded, but I would say – estimates Pregliasco – that for a full recovery will take him at least 15 days.”
#Sinner #Olympics #tonsillitis #play #return #doctors
