Fighting thembugs on the British beaches
Swimming in the sea leaves people substantially more likely suffer ear infections or stomach bugs than those who do not, a study suggests.
Experts said seawater polluted by industrial waste, sewage and run-off from farmland could be to blame, despite significant investment that had improved water quality in recent years.
Researchers from Exeter University, looking at studies involving more than 120,000 people, found those who swam, bathed or took part in watersports in the sea were about 86 per cent more likely to get sick than nonbathers. The odds of reporting ear ailments doubled, and the chances of getting earache in particular rose by 77 per cent. The likelihood of reporting gastrointestinal illnesses rose by 29 per cent.
Anne Leonard, from the European Centre for Environment and Human Health, said: ‘‘In highincome countries like the UK, there is a perception that there is little risk to health of spending time in the sea. However, our paper shows that spending time in the sea does increase the probability of developing illnesses, such as ear ailments and problems involving the digestive system, such as stomach ache and diarrhoea. We think that this indicates that pollution is still an issue affecting some of the world’s richest countries.’’
The systematic review, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, drew together the results of 40 studies from the United States, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Denmark, Greece, Mexico, Norway and Turkey. Of those, 19 had results that could be drawn together to determine the true odds of developing certain conditions. Eight of the studies were based on UK waters.
Will Gaze, who supervised the research, said: ‘‘We don’t want to deter people from going into the sea, which has many health benefits such as improving physical fitness, well-being and connecting with nature. However, it is important that people are aware of the risks so they can make informed decisions.’’ Although most would recover with no medical treatment, infections could be serious for the very old or very young.
Researchers also investigated whether those who immersed their heads in seawater were more likely than other swimmers to get sick and found there were ‘‘only small differences’’ in their odds of developing illnesses. Their chances of developing any illness were 91 per cent higher than nonbathers.
The researchers also looked at whether the likelihood of developing illnesses after sea bathing varied between regions, but concluded any differences in rate of illness between Europe, North America and Oceania might have been down to pure chance.