Self-reported symptoms of ARill only

Self-reported symptoms combined with an algorithm at least partially validated for ARill

Self-reported symptoms of an ARill reviewed by a physician, but without clinical or laboratory evaluation

Clinical diagnosis of an ARill by a physician, based on history and clinical examination

General symptoms of an ARill where the pathology could not be attributed specifically to an infection

ARill studies could include illnesses that are due to either infective or non-infective causes but were not specified in the study design

Self-reported symptoms combined with an algorithm that has been validated for ARinf

Self-reported symptoms of an ARinf reviewed by a physician, but without clinical or laboratory evaluation

Clinical diagnosis of an ARinf by a physician, based on history and clinical examination

General symptoms and/or physical signs suggestive of an ARinf, but where the specific pathology of an infection was not confirmed

The validated questionnaires that were used included the Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey-2145 or the Jackson Cold Scale46 or other questionnaires in which the severity of the symptoms were scored to provide a quantitative assessment (AIS Symptom log).11

Clinical diagnosis of ARinf by a physician that was confirmed by laboratory investigation to identify a specific pathogen using PCR testing on specimen(s), culture of an organism from specimen(s) or serology (eg, rise in antibody titres)

In some studies, the identified pathogen was associated with a viral outbreak in a sporting team. The incidence rates in these studies may not reflect the rates of ARinf in general studies monitoring for ARinf in athletes.