Games: Jabs and door knobs all part of the Games

Ross Everiss. Photo / APN

It is an unfortunate coincidence the words "Delhi" and "belly" rhyme.

It means India's capital city has long been faced with defending a reputation for a lack of sanitation when anything upsets a Western visitor's bowels on the subcontinent.

Delhi's need to prove that it is more than just a destination to acquire uncontrollable diarrhoea has never been greater than in October when the city hosts arguably the biggest sporting event in its history to date - the Commonwealth Games.

There are many illnesses and diseases that athletes and officials attending the event have been advised to get vaccinations against.

Evil-sounding names such as typhoid, polio, tetanus, diphtheria and hepatitis A and B are cited as maladies to avoid, via a vaccine in needle or tablet form.

For many, it is also at their own cost of around $300-400, despite being selected to compete by the New Zealand Olympic Committee. Athletes have already started getting jabs so they will be fully immunised ahead of competition.

New Zealand rugby sevens team manager Ross Everiss found that out when he went to Delhi on a reconnaissance mission in October. "I saw my doctor before I went and he asked casually whether I'd received my jabs. I said, 'Crikey, do I need some?' and he told me what was required. Then he said, 'It's too late now and you should get by, given you're only going for three days. However, you'll need to consider it when you get back."'

Everiss has been in his role for seven years and says, although the team travels around the globe as part of their world series, this is the first time they've competed in conditions requiring prior immunisation.

"There's no compulsion but obviously prevention of such diseases is recommended. The NZOC has indicated it is an individual responsibility but we'll pick up the cost of the hepatitis injections as part of our management budget in the interests of player welfare."

The logistics are complicated by players being spread across the country and extra players being immunised in case of injury. The players keep in touch with the NZRU medical team on what they have had.

"It's not like just rocking up to the doctor and getting a jab," Everiss says. "In some cases you need time between them.

"For example, I had one jab six weeks ago. I'm due for another one now and another in six months' time."

Dr Lynne Coleman has directed the New Zealand medical team since the Melbourne Games four years ago. Her team includes five doctors, eight physiotherapists (six are involved with individual sports), three massage therapists and a psychologist.

She says any form of disease prevention is valuable with 300 New Zealand athletes and officials living in such close quarters at the village.

"Many athletes are already immuno-compromised having completed such extreme levels of training. The timing [of the vaccines] also becomes critical, especially with athletes competing offshore in campaigns beforehand. We won't see them pre-Games."

Coleman stresses the cholera vaccine could be the most important in the short-term because it also has a protective element from travellers' diarrhoea for three to six months.

Coleman says the food within 'the bubble' of the village and venues should be fine.

"The same people who prepared food for Melbourne are doing Delhi. They also have the contract for airline food in India - so they're reliable. However, being fastidious about your food hygiene can't hurt. I've ordered a bottle of alcohol-based hand-sanitiser for everybody as well, and will be putting cards up in bathrooms about how to best wash your hands."

Coleman admits even the best endeavours won't necessarily help competitors avoid the dunny.

"I went up to check things out in Delhi for five days at the end of May. I ate in the five-star hotel, used the handwash like mad, didn't have ice in my drinks and drank only bottled water, but still got sick for 36 hours. All it takes is the casual touching of a [contaminated] door knob."