A PSV player is infected with tuberculosis. Does that impact on the top match against Ajax? And four other questions

Six days before the top match against Ajax, perhaps the most important match of the season, a case of active tuberculosis was established at PSV. The club announced on Monday that the player – PSV wants for privacy reasons does not say who it is – makes it good ‘according to circumstances’, but will probably not take action for the Eindhoven players this season.

Reporting from other media shows that it is striker Lucas Pérez, the second striker that was rented in the winter as a temporary replacement for the injured Ricardo Pepi.

Tuberculosis, which can be fatal without treatment, is rare in the Netherlands and can be treated with antibiotics here. But what kind of illness is it exactly? And how does this contamination affect the rest of the season for the player? And for PSV? Some questions.

1First of all: what is active tuberculosis?

Tuberculosis, abbreviated as TB, is an infectious disease caused by a bacterium. Only a small part of the infected people, around 5 to 10 percent, actually develops the TB disease. In the majority of cases, the bacteria stay in the body sleeping and the bacterium is kept under control there. It is therefore possible to get sick years after the infection.

If TB is not treated, the bacterium will continue to affect the lung tissue, possibly resulting in death. In 2023, slightly more than 1,400 people with an infection with the TB bacterium were reported in the Netherlands. Slightly less than half of them were detected by investigating people from countries where TB is common, including Morocco, Eritrea and Somalia. About a third party is detected by source and contact examination.

Will the player still play this season? That is unlikely: that ‘calculation is quickly made’

TB can nestle in many places in the body, such as the kidneys, bones, lymph nodes and lungs. Only if the bacterium is in the lungs – lung tuberculosis – is the disease contagious, especially through sneezing and coughing.

That is also the case with the relevant PSV player. The club late NRC Knowing that the player has mild complaints and is in ‘a quiet phase’.

2How did the PSV player tuberculosis sustain?

A spokesperson for PSV says that the infection happened abroad, and that this was established this last weekend. Since then, the infected player would not have had contact with teammates. The risk of contamination for people in the vicinity of the player is therefore ‘limited’, the lung doctor involved said in a PSV press statement.

The GGD Brabant-Zuidoost, which rated the patient, has « no indications » for the time being that people in the vicinity of the infected player became infected.

3What happens to the player now?

In the coming weeks the player is expected to keep complaints and at that time he must stay in quarantine. Then he probably has to recover for a few weeks.

The Eindhoven team will play the last game of the season on 18 May. Will the player still play for PSV this season? The spokesperson cannot give a clear answer to this, but states that with the approaching end of the season « the calculation is quickly (is) made ». « And he could also get sick from antibiotics. »

A TB patient needs for at least six months after recovery, but he is no longer contagious a few weeks after the start of treatment. The recovery itself probably takes much less than six months. This makes it plausible that the player could take action again at the start of the following season.

4How does this influence the preparation of PSV for the match against Ajax?

The club announced that it will use the ‘standard protocols’ and to take all ‘necessary measures’. Everyone in ‘the first ring’ will be monitored with source and contact research via the GGD Brabant, leave the club on NRC know. « Then you are talking about all players. And also about a physiotherapist. But then not about the technical director or press officer. » Deep -far measures, for example that the selection is not allowed to come to other people, are not necessary.

In addition, PSV trainer Peter Bosz is expected to not have to change anything about the training sessions for the coming weeks. This is because because of the incubation period, there can be no question of complaints, says the spokesperson.

5What about the AVG legislation?

Normally, because of the AVG, the privacy legislation, clubs do not go into detail about injuries or diseases of players.

PSV now does that because of the severity of active tuberculosis. In addition, companies have to deal with a reporting obligation to the GGD at TBC. But, the PSV spokesperson also says: « The player did not want to be mentioned by name. »

That happened: reporting several Dutch media based on sources in Spain that it is Pérez.

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