Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T23:25:03.646Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An outbreak of otitis externa in competitive swimmers due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2010

T. M. S. Reid  and
I. A. Porter
T. M. S. Reid
Affiliation:
Regional Laboratory, City Hospital, Aberdeen
I. A. Porter
Affiliation:
Regional Laboratory, City Hospital, Aberdeen
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa was 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 with P. 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 of P. aeruginosa were 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 of P. aeruginosa infection 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 with P. aeruginosa.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Hygiene , Volume 86 , Issue 3 , June 1981 , pp. 357 - 362
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

References

REFERENCES

Alcock, S. R. (1977). Acute otitis externa in divers working in the North Sea; a microbiological survey of seven saturation dives. Journal of Hygiene 78, 395–409.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Asheshov, E. H. (1974). An assessment of the methods used for typing strains of P. aeruginosa.Proceedings of the VIth International Congress of Bacteriology,Athens, pp. 9–22.Google Scholar
Black, A. P., Keirn, M. A., Smith, J. J., Dykes, G. M. & Harlan, W. E. (1970). The disinfection of swimming pool water. II. A field study of the disinfection of public swimming pools. American Journal of Public Health 60, 740–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brodsky, M. H. & Nixon, M. C. (1974). Membrane filter method for the isolation and enumeration of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from swimming pools. Applied Microbiology 27, 938–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, M. R. & Scott, Foster J. H. (1970). A simple diagnostic milk medium for P. aeruginosa. Journal of Clinical Pathology 23, 172–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galbraith, N. S. (1980). Infections associated with swimming pools. Environmental Health 88, 31–3.Google Scholar
Govan, J. R. (1978). Pyocin typing of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Methods in Microbiology 10, 61–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Habs, I. (1957). Research on O-antigens of P. aeruginosa. Zeitschrift f¨r Hygiene und Infectionskrankheiten 144, 218–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoadley, A. W. (1978). Potential health hazards associated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa in water. In Bacterial Indicators/Health Hazards Associated with Water. American Society for Testing and Materials Special Technical Publication 635, pp. 80–114.Google Scholar
Hoadley, A. W., Ajello, G., & Masterson, N. (1975). Preliminary studies of fluorescent pseudomonads capable of growth at 41 °C in swimming pool waters. Applied Microbiology 29, 527–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoadley, A. W. & Knight, D. E. (1975). External otitis among swimmers and non-swimmers. Archives of Environmental Health 30, 445–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobson, J. A., Hoadley, A. W. & Farmer, J. J. III. (1976). Pseudomonas aeruginosa serotype 11 is the cause of pool associated skin rash. American Journal of Public Health 66, 1092–3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kush, B. J. & Hoadley, A. W. (1980). A preliminary survey of the association of Pseudomonas aeruginosa with commercial whirlpool bath waters. American Journal of Public Health 70, 279–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCAusLand, W. J. & Cox, P. J. (1975). Pseudomonas infection traced to motel whirlpool. Journal of Environmental Health 37, 455–9.Google Scholar
Report (1969). The Bacteriological Examination of Water Supplies. Reports on Public Health and Medical Subjects no. 71. London: H.M.S.O.Google Scholar
Sausker, W. F., Aelino, J. L.Fitzpatrick, J. E. & Judson, F. N. (1978). Pseudomonas folliculitis acquired from a health spa whirlpool. Journal of the American Medical Association 239, 2362–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schindler, P. R., Metz, H. & Hellwio, R. (1978). Pseudomonas aeruginosa im schwimmbeckenwasser. Zentralblatt fur Bakteriologie, Parasitenkunde, Infektionkreiten und Hygiene Abteilung 1/Originate B 167, 462–9.Google Scholar
Seyfried, P. L. & Fraser, D. J. (1978). Pseudomonas aeruginosa in swimming pools related to the incidence of otitis externa infection. Health Laboratory Science 15, 50–7.Google Scholar
Seyfried, P. L. & Fraser, D. J. (1980). Persistence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in chlorinated swimming pools. Canadian Journal of Microbiology 26, 350–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Von Graevenitz, A. (1973). Clinical microbiology of unusual Pseudomonas species. Progress in Clinical Pathology 5, 185–218.Google ScholarPubMed
Washburn, J., Jacobson, J. A. & Marston, E., (1976). Pseudomonas aeruginosa rash illness associated with a whirlpool. Journal of the American Medical Association 235, 2205–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weinoarten, M. A. (1977). Otitis externa due to Pseudomonas in swimming pool bathers. Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners 27, 359–60.Google Scholar
Wright, D. N. & Alexander, J. M. (1974). Effect of water on the bacterial flora of swimmers' ears. Archives of Otolaryngology 95, 15–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, D. N. & Dineen, M. (1972). A model for the study of infectious otitis externa. Archives of Otolaryngology 95, 243–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar