Arash Letafati - Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Nooshin Eyvazzadeh - Department of Medical Bacteriology, Faculty of Medicine, Qazvin University of Medical Science,Qazvin, Iran
Fatemeh Zargari - Department of Cellular and Molecular biology, Faculty of Modern sciences, Islamic Azad University,Tehran, Iran
Aidin Ghamgosar - Department of Laboratory sciences, Faculty of Para Medicine, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Niloufar shaker - Department of Biology-Biochemistry, Faculty of Science-Agriculture and Modern technologies,Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran
Gevik Karpians - Department of Biology-Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Science andresearch branch, Tehran, Iran

Background: Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are a major cause of infection and sometimeslead to death. These infections may have a viral or bacterial source. In December ۲۰۱۹, a newtype of coronavirus was identified. The first people to catch the virus were reported from Wuhan,China. The virus disease is called COVID-۱۹. The spread of the virus was so rapid that it wasdeclared a pandemic disease. Following the widespread outbreak of COVID-۱۹, Sports clubswere one of the first places to be closed for decreasing morbidity rates. In this research, weexamine the prevalence of SARS-CoV-۲ among athletes with mild respiratory symptoms.Methods: This study evaluated the possible existence of SARS-CoV-۲ infection in ۱۲۴ throatand nasal swab samples using Real-time PCR. All samples were collected from patients withrespiratory symptoms in sport clubs, Tehran, Iran.Results: From ۱۲۴ people selected as the study sample, ۱۱ samples (۸.۸۷%) tested positive usingReal-time PCR. The results of the sample testify to the positive effect of sports clubs on theprevalence of SARS-CoV-۲.Conclusion:This study was performed to Investigate the risk of transmission in society among symptomaticathletes. Our study showed that SARS-CoV-۲ can spread easily in society by this group ofpatients and all sport clubs should measure PCR negative results mandatory for entry into thesesports clubs.

Respiratory Tract Infection, SARS-CoV-۲, ARIs, Prevalence, COVID-۱۹