Investigating the bacterial contamination of Arak swimming pools

Dissertation for receiving a professional doctorate degree in the field of medicine

Persian abstract

Introduction: Considering the importance of swimming in physical and mental health and the aspect of water therapy for diseases, it is important to observe hygiene and standards in swimming pools. Swimming pools as one of the recreational centers and in terms of direct communication between different human groups are known as a potential source of pollution, which can be considered as a source of transmission and spread of bacterial and fungal diseases if health issues are not paid attention to. In this regard, knowing the types of pollution in pool water can help in finding practical solutions to improve the level of health and reduce water pollution and subsequently prevent the complications caused by it. The purpose of this study is to determine the amount of bacterial contamination in the indoor swimming pools of Arak city. Methodology: This study was conducted cross-sectionally on 6 active indoor swimming pools of Arak city from May 2013 to May 2013 during 4 seasons. Referring to the pools, samples were taken on 2 occasions (day 45 and the end of each season) at 10 am for all pools. In order to sample the water of the pools at each turn, one sample from the deep part and one sample from the shallow part, and for sampling the side facilities of each pool, including showers, showers, saunas, and jacuzzis, sterile carpets measuring 4 x 10 cm were used, and for this purpose, the walls and floors of the respective places were sampled 8 times. The samples were transferred to the mycology, microbiology and parasitology laboratory of the Faculty of Medicine less than 2 hours after collection. At the same time as the samples were collected, the temperature, pH, heat and chlorine content of the swimming pools were also measured. Finally, the obtained information was analyzed in SPSS 18 statistical software.

Findings: The average pH of the water of Arak pools was 7.36, the remaining chlorine was 1.8 mg/liter, the temperature was 29.5 degrees Celsius, and the NTU turbidity was 0.49, except for the temperature, the rest of the parameters were in the standard range. Among the 6 pools under investigation, pool B with a pH of 7.5 had the highest amount and pool A with a pH of 7.2 had the lowest amount. Also, pool C has the highest amount of chlorine with 2.5 mg/liter. Pools A, B and F had the highest temperature among the pools with a temperature of 29.8. The frequency distribution of the type of bacteria in 4 seasons of the year in 6 studied pools showed that the highest frequency of Corynebacterium type was in spring, summer and autumn, and after that, Staphylococcus epidermidis was the most prevalent in spring, summer and autumn, respectively. The frequency distribution of the percentage of pollution in the pools based on the type of bacteria, Corynebacterium was the most common type of bacteria in the studied pools with 32.73%, respectively, pool B was the most polluted with 23.7% and pool A was the least polluted with 7.9%. Conclusion: The results of our study showed that the quantity and quality of bacterial pollution was different in different pools and it seems that the amount and type of bacterial pollution can be related to various factors such as pH and water temperature. And also the type of seasons is relevant. Considering the importance of swimming pool water pollution and the lack of studies in the study area, it is suggested to conduct future studies taking into account more factors predisposing to swimming pool water pollution. Key words: bacterial contamination, swimming pools, arak. Statement of the problem. Considering the importance of swimming in physical and mental health and the hydrotherapy aspect of diseases, it is important to observe hygiene and standards in swimming pools. Swimming pools, as one of the recreational centers and in terms of direct communication between different human groups, are known as a potential source of contamination, which, if health issues are not paid attention to, can be considered a source of transmission and spread of bacterial and fungal diseases (1). Swimming pools are the hygiene of the environment and the space of the pools, the most important of which is water hygiene. Pool water is always exposed to faecal contamination and pathogens of the skin, throat and nose. Among the health risks related to it, we can mention fungal skin infections (2), eye, throat and nose infections (3), upper respiratory tract infections (4) and river infections (5).

Since the main contribution to the use of swimming pools goes to young people and teenagers, and due to the prevalence of various fungal and parasitic diseases in this wide range of society, in the absence of suitable solutions for monitoring the environmental conditions in the area of ??swimming pools, such centers may quickly become the main sources of transmission of various diseases (1). and has swimming pools, therefore, in communities with low quality and quantity of sanitary water, the prevalence and spread of intestinal parasitic diseases is very high. In addition, mushrooms can easily grow in favorable conditions, especially in swimming pools (1).

Considering the increasing progress of human knowledge in the control and eradication of fungal diseases, including dermatophytosis in humans, the statistics obtained still show that this disease is considered one of the most important health problems of the world and Iran. Dermatophytoses are one of the most common infectious agents in humans. No part of the world is free from baldness. Apart from pathogenic factors in the environment, other factors such as environmental temperature, humidity, age, job, living conditions, and non-compliance with health standards are very important for the development of fungal skin disease (1). Physicochemical factors such as pH and residual chlorine are important in the water quality of swimming pools. When the remaining free chlorine is less than 0.4 mg/liter and the pH is between 6.9-8.9, the activity of microorganisms in the pool water increases; Because with the increase in the pH of the pool water, a smaller percentage of the remaining chlorine becomes hypochlorous acid and the disinfection power of chlorine decreases. Swimmers with athlete's foot can contaminate swimming pools through keratin waste containing fungi (1).

According to the results of research, free chlorine with standard concentration is not able to destroy fungi, parasites and bacteria. Fungal, parasitic and bacterial factors can cause dangerous complications such as external ear infection and various ringworms, vaginitis and oxyuriasis and acanthamoeba keratitis or amoebic meningoencephalitis in people.

In order to achieve the health of swimmers and prevent them from developing and contracting chronic and contagious diseases, the first step is to identify the state of parasitic and fungal contamination in swimming pools in order to prevent the transmission of these diseases by improving and educating about hygiene.

Due to the importance of swimming pool hygiene, several studies have been conducted in various cities of the world (6-8) and also in Iran, including Bandar Abbas, Sari, Urmia, Shiraz and Zanjan (9-12).

And due to the density of users of active swimming pools in Arak city, this research is conducted with the aim of determining the amount of bacterial contamination in indoor swimming pools in this city so that you can find ways to improve hygiene and reduce pollution in swimming pools.

1-2- General

1-2-1- Diseases spread by swimming pool water

In swimming pools, there is a possibility of direct or indirect transmission of eye, ear, respiratory tract, skin and other diseases from swimmers to other people, especially if the water does not have an active disinfectant such as free chlorine that can be used (2)

There are few data and information about diseases acquired from swimming pools. Skin infections caused by Mycobacterium marinum (Mycobacterum marinum) leading to the appearance of granuloma have been reported after swimming in public pools (2).

Other bacterial and viral infections, including conjunctivitis and fever, have also been attributed to swimming in public pools where sanitary standards and criteria are not applied well (2)

Giardiasis disease (Giardia iambia) has been reported as a result of possible ingestion of pool water that was contaminated by the feces of a carrier child (the pool had a sharp sand filter that was renewed every 6 hours but did not contain residual chlorine). An outbreak and epidemic of giardiasis was reported in a public swimming pool in Atlanta in 1985 (3). And 44 people are infected in 5 separate groups. In that sample, although the amount of residual chlorine in the water was about 2 mg/liter, one of the diatom filters was out of order (3).