Australian Olympic team doctors have warned their squad to keep off tattoos,melons and sex workers while in Beijing.Dr.Peter Baquie stated that athletes indulging in tattooing were at risk of contracting cancer-causing hepatitis B from tattoo artists in China where the disease is widespread.
"People need to be aware of the dangers, people go and get the rings tattooed and it is an issue," he told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper."It would be lovely if they got the rings back home."
Baquie also warned the 478 Australian athletes heading to Beijing that there was a high incidence of HIV/AIDS among sex workers in China.
He said while all the sportsmen and women had been offered immunisation against hepatitis B, hepatitis A, typhoid and other diseases, it was no guarantee against infection.
Australian Paralympic doctor Larissa Trease said the best advice for athletes was: "Wash your hands and drink bottled water."
Trease said Olympians should also be wary of buying citrus fruit or melons from street hawkers because they may have been injected with unclean water to increase their weight.
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