As if it is not rough enough already, wrestling may provide another, more insidious hazard for participants. It appears that sweat can carry the hepatitis B virus, raising concerns that wrestlers with the virus might spread it to others through cuts and wounds.
鈥淢y recommendation is that testing for hepatitis B should be compulsory at the start of every competitor鈥檚 career,鈥� says Selda Berket-Y眉cel of Celal Bayar University in western Turkey. She found a latent form of the virus in blood from nine out of 70 male Olympic wrestlers she screened.
Virus particles were also found in the sweat of eight of these wrestlers, although it has not been shown that sweat can transmit the virus (British Journal of Sports Medicine, DOI: 10.1136/bjsm.2006.032847). Berket-Y眉cel suggests that wrestlers should be vaccinated against hepatitis B.
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鈥淚 think testing for hepatitis B is a very good idea in principle,鈥� says Yvonne Ball of British Wrestling, an amateur wrestling association.
