By Elise Devlin & Matt Hubbard
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writers
COVID-19 hits people in different ways. Some who have the virus are asymptomatic. Others have mild symptoms. And still others have severe outbreaks that lead to hospitalization. Athletes, of course, aren’t immune. And because they rely so heavily on their bodies to perform, getting COVID-19 can be serious — even if their symptoms aren’t.
Athletes in every sport use their heart and lungs intensely. And these are among the parts of the body that appear to be most affected by COVID-19. Rushing back to practice or competition can be dangerous. That’s why medical experts have been so careful to test athletes after they test positive.
Brooke Bollinger learned this the hard way. A junior on the Towson University swim team, Bollinger contracted COVID-19 in late August. Bollinger was surprised she got the virus. She was being careful. And she didn’t have major symptoms.
Bollinger, originally from Exeter, Pennsylvania, did her quarantine at home so her teammates, whom she lived with, wouldn’t be exposed and have to quarantine themselves. After completing a full quarantine and returning to Towson, Bollinger was still unable to return to any kind of physical activity. This was because of the necessary requirements and tests that must be completed after contracting COVID-19.
Dr. Louis E. Kovacs is a medical director for Towson athletics and a family medicine doctor in Baltimore. Kovacs, who is trained in sports medicine, administers a series of tests on athletes before they can return to action.
“Cardiovascular risk assessment of athletes with COVID-19 is rapidly changing as we learn more,” Kovacs said in an email. “As recently as a month or two ago, it was common practice for athletes with prior COVID-19 infection to undergo ECG (test of the electrical activity of the heart), high-sensitivity troponin (heart muscle enzyme), and echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart as it squeezes). Some advocated for cardiac MRI (a highly detailed and specialized MRI scan of the heart) also. If those initial tests showed any abnormalities, additional testing could follow. That approach was often being taken for all athletes with COVID-19. Regardless of severity of infection. As we have learned more from those initial experiences, we have learned that those heart effects of the virus are quite rare unless the infection is moderate or severe. As a result, we are now taking a more selective and stratified approach to cardiac testing, based upon clinical severity of illness.”
The bottom line is that medical experts are still learning about COVID-19, and have taken a cautious approach to make sure athletes aren’t rushed back. One prominent example of this is over the summer, with the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors first voted to suspend the football season after concerns surfaced that athletes were diagnosed with myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle. Myocarditis can weaken the heart, leading to heart failure, abnormal heartbeat and death.
But soon thereafter, the council voted to allow the fall season to resume in October after being assured that medical protocols were in place, including daily antigen testing, enhanced cardiac screening and an enhanced data-driven approach.
Dr. Kovacs said that athletes who have tested positive for COVID-19 are now regularly tested to determine if there are signs of myocarditis.
What exactly is the step-by-step protocol for athletes with COVID-19, and why is it so important for athletes to follow this? This video explains answers to that and more.
Ryan Thomas, a hockey player for West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania, recently contracted the coronavirus. Only feeling mild symptoms for a few days, Thomas was told to quarantine for two weeks, with no further protocol.
Listen to the following highlights from an interview with Thomas and journalist Matt Hubbard.
Thomas also noted that his personal self-care of a high fluids and healthy food diet assisted him in combating the virus.
“By eating healthy, drinking tons of water, and sleeping a good amount, I feel like I was able to mentally and physically fight this virus,” Thomas said.
But some athletes have had a slower recovery. Jhaniyah Newton-Ridgeway, a sprinter at Bloomsburg University, tested positive for COVID-19 and said she had mild symptoms of fatigue, cold sweats and muscle aches.
“My symptoms were nothing crazy, in fact, they were easier than a cold,” Newton said. “But they lasted for about a week.”
Newton was confused as to how she tested positive for COVID-19 given that she had been isolated for the start of the school year.
“They told me I was positive and to quarantine,” Newton said. “But that was strange to me because I was practically already quarantining to avoid this exact problem.”
With muscle aches and fatigue, Newton was worried that the virus would begin affecting her respiratory system.
“I was nervous because one of the main threats of the virus is that it attacks your lungs,” Newton said. “So with fatigue and aches, I felt like it was only a matter of time until I began coughing and that is the worst part because there is nothing I could do to prevent it other than quarantine.”
Newton’s symptoms did not develop any further and she did not notice any dramatic effects from COVID-19 during her time in quarantine. After Newton was cleared for COVID-19, she was allowed to continue playing sports and working out.
“I don’t have the shortness of breath or a lasting loss of smell that they say you get after the virus, it just came and went,” Newton said.