Surfers who swallow seawater are more resistant to antibiotics

A study in the UK found that regular surfers tend to have higher antibiotic resistance due to their intestinal E. coli bacteria three times higher than non-surfers.

This not only shows that surfers are at greater risk for these microorganisms, but also that there is an unusual proportion of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in coastal bathing waters around the UK.

Named "Beach Bums", the study conducted a rectal test of 300 subjects for analysis. Half of the subjects are ordinary surfers, while the other half are swimmers at sea and act as a control group.

Research shows that 9% of surfers carry antibiotic-resistant bacteria, compared with 3% in the control group. The study also surveyed coastal water samples from 97 locations and found antibiotic resistant bacteria in 11 samples.

Anne Leonard, the head of the study, said: "The status of antibiotic resistance has been globally recognized as one of the biggest challenges to the health of our times and now more and more people practice. centered on how to combat the spread of this situation ".

Surfers are susceptible to bacterial infections because they swallow significant amounts of seawater during surfing. Of course, you may be wondering how antibiotic resistant bacteria have entered the sea?

The authors of the study show that it enters the coastal environment from a wide range of overflowing sources, including agricultural crops treated with manure and waste. This particular type of E. coli is remarkable because it resists a common antibiotic called cefotaxime, usually prescribed by doctors.

"We do not expect to prevent people from spending time at sea, because it has a lot of fitness and health benefits," said Will Gaze, research supervisor. "However, we now hope that our results will help policy makers, beach managers and water companies implement specific plans to improve water quality even further for the benefit. benefits of public health ".

This study is published in the International Journal of Environment.

See more:

1. 11 treatments for children to stop using antibiotics
2. What is antibiotic resistance? Why is it dangerous?
3. Multiple sclerosis drugs can combat antibiotic resistant bacteria