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SWIMMING ASSOCIATED ILLNESS AND RAPID MEASURES OF WATER QUALITY AT A GULF BEACH
Citation:
WADE, T. J., R. L. CALDERON, E. A. SAMS, M. BEACH, K. P. BRENNER, A. P. DUFOUR, AND SWIMMING ASSOCIATED ILLNESS AND RAPID MEASURES OF WATER QUALITY AT A GULF BEACH. Presented at National Environmental Health Association Annual Meeting, Atlantic City, NJ, June 18 - 21, 2007.
Description:
Studies at Great Lakes beaches have provided evidence that faster ways of measuring the fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) Enterococcus using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) are predictive of swimming associated illness. In 2005 we conducted an epidemiology study to evaluate these methods at a marine beach located in Biloxi, Mississippi.
We enrolled beachgoers from June through August. Ten to twelve days after the beach visit, we telephoned participants to determine illness occurrence. Water samples were tested for Enterococcus and Bacteroides using qPCR. A total of 1501 subjects were enrolled before the study was stopped short due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina.
Swimmers reported approximately 1.3 times more gastrointestinal illness compared to non-swimmers. The risk of GI illness increased as exposure to Enterococcus and Bacteroides qPCR and cell equivalents (CE) increased. Although these results require confirmation at other marine beaches, the results are consistent with those from freshwater beaches.
This is an abstract of a proposed presentation and does not necessarily reflect EPA policy.