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U.K. residents swimming in coastal waters may ingest resistant E. coli
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United Kingdom residents who use coastal waters recreationally could be exposed to antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli, according to data presented at the General Microbiology Annual Conference 2015.
“Our research establishes recreational use of coastal waters as an additional route of exposure,” William Gaze, PhD, of the University of Exeter Medical School, Cornwall, U.K, said in a press release. “With millions of people visiting beaches in England and Wales each year, there is a risk of people ingesting [third-generation cephalosporin]-resistant E. coli, and it looks like water users’ exposure to all resistant bacteria could be even higher.”
Gaze and colleagues measured the presence of third-generation cephalosporin-resistant E. coli in seawater surrounding England and Wales. External data reporting recreational use of seawater and volumes of swallowed water during activities such as swimming, surfing and kayaking were applied to these samplings to estimate exposure.
“Coastal waters are contaminated by fecal material carrying billions of bacteria-harboring mobile antibiotic resistance genes,” the researchers wrote. “Recreational use of seawater can therefore bring humans into direct contact with antibiotic resistant bacteria, including clinically important human pathogens that are resistant to frontline antibiotics.”
Third-generation cephalosporin resistance was found in 0.12% of isolated E. coli. Due to the frequent recreational use of these waters, however, the researchers estimated that more than 6.3 million watersport sessions resulted in the ingestion of this resistant bacteria in 2012.
“We have demonstrated that there is an identifiable human exposure risk for coastal water users, which varies depending on activity,” the researchers wrote. “However, the results reported are expected to underestimate recreational exposure to [antibiotic-resistant bacteria] in coastal waters. Further work must be done to elucidate the health implications of exposure to [antibiotic-resistant bacteria] in aquatic environments to fully understand the risk to public health.”
Reference:
Leonard A, et al. Abstract S02/37. Presented at: The Society for General Microbiology Annual Conference 2015; March 30 to April 2; Birmingham, U.K.
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