Microbiological quality of indoor and outdoor swimming pools in Greece: Investigation of the antibiotic resistance of the bacterial isolates

• Published in: International journal of hygiene and environmental health 2008-07, Vol.211 (3), p.385-397
• Main Authors: Papadopoulou, Chrissanthy, Economou, Vangelis, Sakkas, Hercules, Gousia, Panagiota, Giannakopoulos, X., Dontorou, Catherine, Filioussis, George, Gessouli, Helen, Karanis, Panagiotis, Leveidiotou, Stamatina
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aeromonas hydrophila; Air. Soil. Water. Waste. Feeding; Alternaria; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Aspergillus; Biological and medical sciences; Candida; Candida - isolation & purification; Candida albicans; Chryseobacterium indologenes; Cryptosporidium; Drug Resistance, Bacterial; Enterobacter cloacae; Environment. Living conditions; Giardia; Gram-Negative Bacteria - drug effects; Gram-Negative Bacteria - isolation & purification; Gram-Positive Bacteria - drug effects; Gram-Positive Bacteria - isolation & purification; Greece; Hydrotherapy; Hydrotherapy - standards; Klebsiella pneumoniae; Legionella; Leuconostoc; Medical sciences; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Miscellaneous; Mucor; Ochrobactrum anthropi; Penicillium; Pseudomonas; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Pseudomonas alcaligenes; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Rhizopus; Salmonella; Staphylococcus aureus; Susceptibility; Swimming pools; Swimming Pools - standards; Temperature; Toxicology; Trichophyton; Water - analysis; Water - standards; Water Microbiology - standards
• ISSN: 1438-4639; 1618-131X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2007.06.007

During 1997–2005, the microbiological quality and susceptibility of bacterial isolates of swimming pool waters were investigated. A total of 462 water samples were collected from three indoor swimming pools (a teaching pool, a competition public pool, a hydrotherapy pool) and two outdoor swimming pools (a hotel semi-public and a residential private pool) in Northwestern Greece. All water samples were analyzed for the presence of bacteria, protozoa and fungi and susceptibility tests were performed for the bacterial isolates. Sixty-seven percent of the examined water samples conformed to the microbiological standards and 32.9% exceeded at least one of the indicated limits. Out of 107 bacterial isolates, 38 (35.5%) resistant strains were detected. Multi-resistant Pseudomonas alcaligenes, Leuconostoc, and Staphylococcus aureus (isolated from the teaching pool), Staphylococcus wernerii, Chryseobacterium indologenes and Ochrobactrum anthropi (isolated from the competition pool), Pseudomonas aeruginosa, P. fluorescens, Aeromonas hydrophila, Enterobacter cloacae, Klebsiella pneumoniae and S. aureus (isolated from the hydrotherapy pool) and A. hydrophila (isolated from the hotel pool) were detected. The swimming pool with the poorest microbiological quality (THC ⩾500 cfu/ml in 12.1% of the samples, P. aeruginosa counts ⩽1500 cfu/100 ml in 6% of the samples) and the highest prevalence of multi-resistant isolates (73.6%) was the hydrotherapy pool. No Cryptosporidium or Giardia cysts and no Legionella, Mycobacteria and Salmonella were detected, but there were isolations of Candida albicans, Aspergillus spp., Mucor spp., Alternaria spp., Rhizopus spp., Trichophyton spp., and Penicillium spp.