Elite athletes are commonly considered prone to respiratory infections, but there are no high-quality long-term studies on the occurrence of etiologically defined viral respiratory tract infections in athletes, and the symptom prevalence, duration, and burden remain unclear.

We know too little of the factors affecting susceptibility to viral infections. Furthermore, the relative contribution of different transmission modes of different viruses is poorly understood. During the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, mitigation procedures in the population and in sports teams have proved effective. Which prevention strategies are crucial in athletes remains to be clarified.

This paper advocates conducting high-quality research in collaboration with infectious diseases and sports medicine communities to improve the knowledge on respiratory infections in athletes.