An outbreak of otitis externa in competitive swimmers due toPseudomonas aeruginosa
- 1 February 1981
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Epidemiology and Infection
- Vol. 86 (3), 357-362
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022172400069114
Abstract
SUMMARY: Pseudomonas aeruginosawas isolated from the ears of 18 of the 25 members of a team of competitive swimmers who complained of painful discharging ears. This group of swimmers trained twice daily in the pool, in the early morning and late afternoon. In contrast swabbing of the ears of a similar group of 54 competitive swimmers who used the pool only in the afternoon revealed only one swimmer withP. aeruginosa.Investigation of the swimming pool revealed that chlorination was often inadequate when the first group of swimmers were training in the early morning. Strains ofP. aeruginosawere isolated from various sites around the pool and from the bag of a vacuum used to clean the pool.Pyocin typing, serotyping and phage typing were performed on all isolates. The dominant strain recovered from the swimmers' ears was found to be almost identical to that from the vacuum bag and belonged to serotype 0–11 which has been particularly associated with outbreaks ofP. aeruginosainfection in whirlpools in the United States.These results support the hypothesis that there is a direct correlation between the development of otitis externa and swimming in water contaminated withP. aeruginosa.This publication has 21 references indexed in Scilit:
- A preliminary survey of the association of Pseudomonas aeruginosa with commercial whirlpool bath waters.American Journal of Public Health, 1980
- Persistence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in chlorinated swimming poolsCanadian Journal of Microbiology, 1980
- Pseudomonas folliculitis acquired from a health spa whirlpoolJAMA, 1978
- Acute otitis externa in divers working in the North Sea: a microbiological survey of seven saturation divesEpidemiology and Infection, 1977
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa serogroup 11 and pool-associated skin rash.American Journal of Public Health, 1976
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa rash associated with a whirlpoolJAMA, 1976
- Effect of Water on the Bacterial Flora of Swimmers' EarsJAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, 1974
- A Model for the Study of Infectious Otitis ExternaJAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, 1972
- The disinfection of swimming pool water. II. A field study of the disinfection of public swimming pools.American Journal of Public Health and the Nations Health, 1970
- A simple diagnostic milk medium forPseudomonas aeruginosaJournal of Clinical Pathology, 1970