Summary: In preparation for the Paris 2024 Summer Games, the French national public health Agency anticipated increased environmental and infectious risks, including heat waves, arboviruses, measles, and foodborne outbreaks, as well as tension on drug stocks. Strengthening the capacity to detect, alert, and adapt preventive actions was essential to ensure a timely response to health emergencies. Since the Games, the Agency is conducting an after-action review to learn from the experience for future mass gatherings. The Agency put in place a specific health surveillance protocol for the Games from July 8 to September 15, 2024. The Agency provided daily and weekly reports to health authorities, along with risk analysis based on epidemiological criteria, in the event of a health incident. Though relying on existing syndromic and specific surveillance, the Agency seized the opportunity to develop new field surveillance systems in collaboration with first aid responders. This enriches the knowledge on mass gatherings and strengthens the Agency’s line of conduct and responsiveness for future events. The Agency identified key prevention messages for travelers and Games spectators by collaborating with French health authorities, international entities, and the Games organizer. This led the Agency to adjust its internal organization during the Games while continuing to pursue its ongoing missions. Although there were no major health alerts during the Olympic Games, the sanitary surveillance of this event should leave a useful legacy: knowledge of relevant indicators or systems for early detection of signals during a mass gathering, providing timely reassurance to health authorities to contribute to preventive or control measures, and fluid communication between public and Olympic stakeholders.
Hamsany et al. (Sun,) studied this question.