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.
“My recommendation is that testing for hepatitis B should be compulsory at the start of every competitor’s career,” says Selda Berket-YĆ¼cel 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…
