MRSA Superbug Forum |
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Question?MRSA?SWIMMING POOLS
Started by Mrs. Eddleman |
Posted: July 4, 2005 at 04:20 | |
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Does anyone know if you can contract MRSA from a swimming pool OR if someone who is infected with MRSA should be in swimming pool? 5361
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Re: Question?MRSA?SWIMMING POOLS
Reply #1 by Ben Levison |
Posted: July 4, 2005 at 14:05 | |
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Mrs. Addelman YES - MRSA bacteria are there and are not killed by chlorine. NO.If you know you have MRSA, you should avoid ALL public contact. Trouble is people do not know they have an MRSA. 5364
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Re: Question?MRSA?SWIMMING POOLS
Reply #2 by ALAN |
Posted: July 4, 2005 at 15:26 | |
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DISAGREE - MRSA ARE INDEED KILLED BY ADEQUATE CHLORINATION (OR OTHER DISINFECTANT) IN THE POOL WATER. THE WATER IS TESTED REGULARLY FOR PATHOGENS IN COMMERCIAL AND HEALTHCARE POOLS. 5365
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Re: Question?MRSA?SWIMMING POOLS
Reply #3 by Grace |
Posted: July 4, 2005 at 15:44 | |
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I hope this is helpful - I'm not an expert on the chemistry or technicalities of swimming pools but at least it's reassuring to know that swimming pool water and pool equipment are regularly sanitised by various methods to kill germs e.g. ozone, chlorine, bromine and UV treatment. This is to eliminate the risks of infection e.g. Legionnaire's Disease caused by other bacteria. In other wet areas e.g. steam rooms and saunas, people sometimes add essential oils to freshen the damp atmosphere and kill germs. Some of these, especially in combination, may work synergistically and have been shown in scientific research to kill MRSA as well as other infections. Personally, I would be more concerned about the air conditioning/ventilation ducting in hospitals or other public buildings and also leisure facilities. At least the water is looked after in accordance with Health & Safety requirements. It may be worth asking whether the air being circulated is routinely sanitised and by what methods, because ozone, UV treatment and other well-known antimicrobial agents could help with this too (even though a Dept of Health MRSA policy official view is ”the use of UV treatment or changing ventilation is unlikely to have a significant impact”). You could ask the Dept of Health’s customer services about swimming pools (dhmail@dh.gsi.gov.uk). I remember reading recently that a wound infected with MRSA was actually cleaned and improved by swimming pool water! Just bathing the affected area of skin in a bowl of swimming pool water wouldn’t do any harm, would it? Maybe it’s worth a try?!!. 5367
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Re: Question?MRSA?SWIMMING POOLS
Reply #4 by Ruth Wollacott |
Posted: July 4, 2005 at 16:44 | |
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Be very sceptical of any information from the DoH. 5371
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Re: Question?MRSA?SWIMMING POOLS
Reply #5 by Grace |
Posted: July 4, 2005 at 18:14 | |
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Yes, I agree with Ruth's comment. Perhaps the right people to answer this question are the Pool Water Treatment Advisory Group at www.pwtag.org. It would be interesting to compare the two replies...! 5372
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Re: Question?MRSA?SWIMMING POOLS
Reply #6 by George |
Posted: July 4, 2005 at 18:31 | |
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Perhaps the entrepreneurial fellows who frequent this site can invent a colourless dye to put in the pool water that turns red in contact with MRSA so that we can all see who's got it on their skin in the pool. 5373
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Re: Question?MRSA?SWIMMING POOLS
Reply #7 by Grace |
Posted: July 4, 2005 at 18:46 | |
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That's a very nice idea George, but perhaps it would be more sensible to encourage people to be responsible about going to swimming pools if they think there is any chance that they may have an infection. Have you any other ideas? 5375
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Re: Question?MRSA?SWIMMING POOLS
Reply #8 by Grace |
Posted: July 4, 2005 at 19:02 | |
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You remind me of Joyce Grenfell when she said: "George - don't do that." 5376
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Re: Question?MRSA?SWIMMING POOLS
Reply #9 by George |
Posted: July 4, 2005 at 19:52 | |
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It's quite clear that swimming pools are extremely dangerous to other people when someone with bacteria on their bodies jumps into it. Something must be done to prevent these people with mrsa from getting into our swimming pools. I blame the government. copyright excerpt from "Ideas for a Safer Society" - Fascist Bastard Anti-Privacy Anti-Civil Liberties Anti-Human Rights Control Freak Handbook What? You Disagree? are you some kind of liberal? got something to hide? if you're innocent you've got nothing to worry about - you're either with us or against us in this war! Maybe you ought to get a short sharp shock just to bring back into line because our central genetic information repository says you have a predisposition to dishonesty and questioning authority. In fact you may be a case for a self criticism course at the new Blunkett Re-education and Re-orientation Centre! Somebody will be knocking on your door shortly. 5377
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Re: Question?MRSA?SWIMMING POOLS
Reply #10 by Bill R. |
Posted: July 5, 2005 at 01:20 | |
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Having done a thesis on how chlorine kills bacteria (E. coli) I am confident that chlorine in the right concentration will kill MRSA; however, disinfection of a swimming pool is a complex issue. I just did a quick search on google - Bacteriological examination of swimming pools - U.K and English only and would be surprised if bacteriological examination for pathogens is done often. Most water examinations depend on indicator bacteriological tests - coliform, fecal coliforms and perhaps E. coli. Generally speaking ph and residual chlorine cocentration are done because bacteriological tests take at least 24 hours to complete (most tests take longer) - therefore only retrospect results. The efectiveness of chlorine depends on many things - the amount of organic material in the pool at any one time - chlorine is very reactive and will react with organic material in the pool and not be available to kill bacteria. A very crowded pool may not have sufficient available chlorine at some times - there have been bacterial infections linked to swimming pools and if you spent some time looking at the literature you will find all the info. on the subject - it is in the public domain even in text books dealing with disinfection - I used to use a good U.K. standard text on disinfection authored by Sykes - don't know when it was last revised! 5379
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Re: Question?MRSA?SWIMMING POOLS
Reply #11 by Bill R. |
Posted: July 5, 2005 at 01:54 | |
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This website tells it as it is http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/959984740.html - if you google "infections from swimming pools" you get more good references 5380
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Re: Question?MRSA?SWIMMING POOLS
Reply #12 by Bill R. |
Posted: July 5, 2005 at 02:19 | |
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Just one more comment - I just googled "infections from swimming pools" followed by "MRSA infections from swimming pools" . First I googled both strings in English and U.K. and then followed by googling both in English and U.S.A. only - try it and make up your own mind!!!!!! 5381
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Re: Question?MRSA?SWIMMING POOLS
Reply #13 by Ben Levinson |
Posted: July 5, 2005 at 09:34 | |
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Bill R. go to http://www.isrm.co.uk/enews/enews26/C-MRSA.htm It lists the Chemicals that they say will treat MRSA. BUT is there evidence that they kill all the strains of MRSA that are here now. How effective are they really. I think that, as we are now all too aware, there isn't a foolproof solution to killing MRSA as the strains that are in the community are growing stronger and stronger. The drug/chemicals that are listed. How safe are they. What are the 'side effects' of using these powerful drugs. Re Chlorine: show me evidence that it has been tested against all the MRSA strains and that it has killed them. I do not want to scare people off from using swimming pools. The chances of catching CA-MRSA in a pool are still very low. The answer is of course, PREVENTION. should have a qualified person to check people [ visual only ] before going into the pool, [open wounds, signs of aninfection]. Then a pre-swim shower with a anticeptic soap, followed by an after swim shower with an anticeptic soap. Health & Safety officers should give advice and oversee the leisure centres. CA-MRSA is potentially more dangerous than Hospital A MRSA . Ben 5387
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Re: Question?MRSA?SWIMMING POOLS
Reply #14 by Hugh Jarse |
Posted: July 5, 2005 at 10:13 | |
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I dont't know about a red dye for detecting MRSA but I have on many occassions seen swimmers with a slight yellow trail coming from the groin area. 5389
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Re: Question?MRSA?SWIMMING POOLS
Reply #15 by George |
Posted: July 5, 2005 at 11:03 | |
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... for which indicator dyes can be added to the pool water! The same principle could apply to MRSA. 5393
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Re: Question?MRSA?SWIMMING POOLS
Reply #16 by Karen |
Posted: July 5, 2005 at 21:00 | |
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I've today asked just this question to my hospital's Nurse Specialist Infection Control, and she assures me that once the site of the infection/wound is healed there is no danger to anyone from the patient swimming in a public swimming pool... 5403
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Re: Question?MRSA?SWIMMING POOLS
Reply #17 by Bill R. |
Posted: July 6, 2005 at 02:01 | |
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Attn. Ben Levinson: I had seen that website - but to paraphrase from my thesis on chlorine disinfection - most experiments on disinfection raise more questions than they provide answers. However, perhaps public health spokesthingies who demand proof from newspapers ought to be challenged to equally table their data or any peer reviewed scientific publications they have authored or co-authored on the subject they are dealing with. As I said before, disinfection processes are complex and any number of conditions can result in changed results. While I am confident that chlorine under ideal conditions will kill or reduce the populations of MRSA strains, I am not sure that conditions are always ideal for the disinfection process to unfold as per text book ... I went back to literature to about 1910 when I did my thesis and what is surprising is that little has changed. Enough on disinfection from here..... At the risk of not being politically correct; but I have failed to find a better way of saying it: In the regulatory-public health science world too often it is the blind leading those who don't want to see - that is why there have been so many regulatory-scientific misadventures .... IT IS A TIME TO BE HUMBLE AND APOLOGIZE! 5410
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Re: Question?MRSA?SWIMMING POOLS
Reply #18 by STEF D. |
Posted: August 2, 2005 at 08:27 | |
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BILL R. WROTE: (when someone stated that you probably couldnt catch MRSA from a pool) "...At the risk of not being politically correct; but I have failed to find a better way of saying it: In the regulatory-public health science world too often it is the blind leading those who don't want to see - that is why there have been so many regulatory-scientific misadventures - IT IS A TIME TO BE HUMBLE AND APOLOGIZE! ..." AMEN TO THAT BILL R!!....Well said, well said along with much else you have stated on this topic! And Id like to add: When are people going to learn to stop asking the so called pro's for answers that are pretty much now becoming common sense..? Use your own judgement for Godz sakes! Why be some what safe when you can be extremely safe? Why risk your LIFE by getting in a PUBLIC POOL and having no worries what so ever just because you called somewhere and some lady at the other end says you have no worries its not in pools??? Your just gonna trust someone that picks up?? Yet, its clear here we cant even trust the Media, the Hospitals the doctors...yet you can trust some lady on the other end spatting off ill matic half ass info that she probaly half way heard during her coffie/smoke break??? What the! geeeze folks, this is your health were talking about..no ITS YOU LIFE from the takes of it here.... Have we not learned from every endearing story read here that we simply can not be TOO CAUTIOUS?.. Theres no such thing as too careful..Hell yes, be paranoid if that means saving you or your childs life. Not to be rude, only truthful ...But a refreshing swim/dip into a public urinary drop off zone where sweaty underarm and other private pits go to soak, where drinking up loads of each others mucus/spit & slimey nose waste on a highly regular & accepted level is hardly worth the "jump off the ledge" for you or your children. Especially when its often reported and CLEARLY PROVEN that many of todays pools and rec centers..even the upscale expensive ones have been exposed by news teams as being lax in updating and keeping up with proper clorine levels. They find that many pools arent even supplying enough chlorine to kill half of whats in the water. So truth has it, you are swimming in filth more then you'd ever like to bare thought of. And I wont even start on the public bathing that comes with getting in Hot tubs - No one ask questions, seems like people STILL just walk around blind eagerly trusting everyone and every business to do their jobs in protecting us. I dont know about you but Boy, thats a lot of trust in one third shift cleaning crew. Most of the public buildings are in extreme contact with just that.."THE PUBLIC" and are going to be the nastiest germ riddened places we visit most likely. Why assume these are the cleanest dwellings? Please stop calling these nit witts at these companies asking these some what silly questions....just assume the worst and assume the voice on the other end has no clue of whats even out there. Unfortunately ignorance doesnt stop people from running their mouths. All it does is produce false hopes in people who are desperately seeking to trust todays professionals. Its the vehicle to how ignorance is further spread and its the vehicle that leads to DEATH. Well dont trust them....in fact you may find that you can educate many of them your self. Just arm yourself with good ole fashioned common sense....if this and many of the stronger millinium buggs cant be destroyed with strong meds, then dont assume your safe in huge public germ baths. Geeeze, its enough to make me wanna hide in the closet with my kids! For those who have private saunas and pools and want to stay safe and regulated as possible try this product..its called WATERSAFE and states to work in 20 minutes. http://www.watersafetestkits.com/html/poolkits.asp Lots of love and prayers to those who are suffering currently....I wish you all strength and hope. Remember mind over matter....and I highly suggest herbs and essential oils to help your pain. Get off as many drugs as you possibly can. :o) 6214
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Re: Question?MRSA?SWIMMING POOLS
Reply #19 by Marco P. |
Posted: January 7, 2009 at 19:32 | |
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Dear Ruth W., I work for a Health Department and hope I can bring back some confidence that you seem to have lost with your local health department. Regulations prohibit persons with communicable diseases from using public pools. The reason is that pool water is not designed to be a disinfectant. Remember, we swim in that water. Sometimes people (kids) even drink the pool water. Therefore, it can't be that effective on pathogenic organisms (disease causing germs) or else the pool's water would be toxic and that would be a bigger issue. Pools are only required and designed to have minimal level of disinfection (chlorine or bromine are typically used). The chemicals, combined with proper filtration and circulation, are capable of destroying or reducing many microorganisms, but not all, and certainly not heavy loads. That is why people are required to shower with warm soapy water before entering public pools. That is why pools are closed when someone poops or vomits in it. That is why children wearing loose diapers are prohibited. And so on and so on. Sooo, the moral of the story is... don't loose any sleep over the issue of whether chlorine can kill MRSA or not. The issue are whether the swimmers are showering before using the pool; if the pool operator is enforcing the rules; and if the public is using the pool when they are ill. Be healthy! - Marco 22580
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