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Evaluation of the occurrence of pathogenic free‐living amoeba and bacteria in 20 public indoor swimming pool facilities

Recently, indoor swimming pool activities have increased to promote health‐enhancing physical activities, which require establishing suitable protocols for disinfection and water quality control. Normally, the assessment of the microbial quality of the water in the pools only considers the presence...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Reyes‐Batlle, María, Gabriel, Marta F., Rodríguez‐Expósito, Rubén, Felgueiras, Fátima, Sifaoui, Ines, Mourão, Zenaida, de Oliveira Fernandes, Eduardo, Piñero, José E., Lorenzo‐Morales, Jacob
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7859502/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33650798
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mbo3.1159
Descripción
Sumario:Recently, indoor swimming pool activities have increased to promote health‐enhancing physical activities, which require establishing suitable protocols for disinfection and water quality control. Normally, the assessment of the microbial quality of the water in the pools only considers the presence of different bacteria. However, other less frequent but more resistant pathogens, such as free‐living amoebas (FLA), are not contemplated in both existing recommendation and research activities. FLA represent a relevant human health risk, not only due to their pathogenicity but also due to the ability to act as vehicles of other pathogens, such as bacteria. Therefore, this work aimed to study the physicochemical characteristics and the occurrence of potentially pathogenic FLA and bacteria in water samples from 20 public indoor swimming facilities in Northern Portugal. Our results showed that some swimming pools presented levels of pH, free chlorine, and conductivity out of the recommended limits. Pathogenic FLA species were detected in two of the facilities under study, where we also report the presence of both, FLA and pathogenic bacteria. Our findings evidence the need to assess the occurrence of FLA and their existence in the same environmental niche as pathogenic bacteria in swimming pool facilities worldwide and to establish recommendations to safeguard the health of the users.