Attention to Gyms

Although sports are now seen as the key to a healthy lifestyle, especially during the winter months, outdoor sports are replaced by indoor gyms. However, indoor sports facilities, frequented especially during the winter months for healthy living, weight loss, or staying in shape, can also be a breeding ground for infectious diseases.

Prof. Dr. Şevket Özkaya, Head of the Chest Diseases Department at Altınbaş University, emphasizes the significant risk posed by accumulated microbes on shared fitness and exercise equipment in the spread of infectious diseases.

Highlighting these popular places, which people often visit for both socializing and maintaining health, Prof. Dr. Şevket Özkaya draws attention to the fact that shared facilities such as gyms and saunas, if not properly maintained, can contribute to the spread of microbes.

Prof. Dr. Şevket Özkaya reminded that diseases characterized by fever, cough, and wheezing, especially among young people, can originate from indoor environments such as sports facilities and saunas that do not comply with adequate ventilation and hygiene conditions.

Explaining that moisture, wetness, and poor hygiene conditions create an environment for the proliferation and spread of many microbes, Prof. Dr. Şevket Özkaya stated, "Therefore, many sports facilities, as well as shared facilities such as pools and showers, can be significant sources of infection. These infections threaten everyone but are especially prone to infecting obese and diabetic patients."

According to Prof. Dr. Şevket Özkaya, there are four important precautions to take in indoor environments:

• Washing hands at points of common contact
• Cleaning shared equipment
• Using personal towels
• Taking a shower after sports, preferably at home

Prof. Dr. Şevket Özkaya also recommended avoiding exercises that cause excessive sweating and heavy breathing as much as possible. According to him, the speed of treadmills in gyms should be limited to a maximum of 6 km/hour.

Şevket Özkaya also pointed out that sudden changes in temperature and rainfall can especially lead to throat infections, stating, "Diseases starting in children with the opening of schools have also spread to parents. Upper respiratory tract infections manifest with fever and sore throat. This situation can be mistaken for COVID-19, but the real cause is bacterial and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)."

Prof. Dr. Şevket Özkaya also warned that throat infections may increase during the Ramadan month, stating, "Temperature and rainfall changes have led to an increase in throat infections. It is important to take precautions against tonsillitis outbreaks."