Are you also fond of ocean swimming? If it’s so then here we have the bad news for you because now ocean swimming will going to increase the risk of skin and ear infections. In fact, there are also chances of gastrointestinal and respiratory illness.
According to the American Society for Microbiology, it has been discovered that swimming in the ocean alters the skin microbiome and may cause infections. The researchers tested it on all the participants into three different subjects and they were after air drying and six and 24 hours post-swim.
In results, the researchers find bacterias on all the participants but here also there is a variation. As some participants had acquired more ocean bacteria and/or had them persist for longer.
“The research was motivated by previous studies which have shown associations between ocean swimming and infections, and by the high prevalence of poor water quality at many beaches, due to wastewater and stormwater runoff. Recent research has demonstrated that changes in the microbiome can leave the most susceptible to infection, and influence disease states. Exposure to these waters can cause gastrointestinal and respiratory illness, ear infections, and skin infections.”
Research Process
The investigators sought 9 volunteers at a beach who met criteria of no sunscreen use, infrequent exposure to the ocean, no bathing within the last 12 hours, and no antibiotics during the previous six months. The researchers swabbed the participants on the back of the calf before they entered the water, and again after subjects had air dried completely following a ten-minute swim and at six and 24 hours post-swim.
Study Results
Before swimming, all individuals had different communities from one-another, but after swimming, they all had similar communities on their skin, which were completely different from the “before swim” communities. At six hours post-swim, the microbiomes had begun to revert to their pre-swim composition, and at 24 hours, they were far along in that process.
“One very interesting finding was that Vibrio species — only identified to the genus level — were detected on every participant after swimming in the ocean, and air drying,” said. Nielsen. (The Vibrio genus includes the bacterium that causes cholera.) At six hours post-swim, they were still present on most of the volunteers, but by 24 hours, they were present only on one individual
“While many Vibrio is not pathogenic, the fact that we recovered them on the skin after swimming demonstrates that pathogenic Vibrio species could potentially persist on the skin after swimming,” said Nielsen. The fraction of Vibrio species detected on human skin was more than 10 times greater than the fraction in the ocean water sample, suggesting a specific affinity for attachment to human skin
Skin is the body’s first line of defence, both physically and immunologically, during exposure to contaminated water.
“Recent studies have shown that human skin microbiome plays an important role in immune system function, localized and systemic diseases, and infection,” said Nielsen.
“A healthy microbiome protects the host from colonization and infection by opportunistic and pathogenic microbes.” She said later.
So, make sure next time whenever you will dive in the ocean you have taken all the important medical precaution and these will definitely release soon.
