Surfers are three times more likely to be colonized with antibiotic resistant Escherichia coli, compared to people who don't surf, according to a study published in the journal Environment International.
As coastal environments can be contaminated by sewage and waste harboring antibiotic-resistant bacteria, researchers sought to determine the risk of colonization with these bacteria among surfers, as these individuals imbibe ten times more sea water than swimmers.
Using rectal swabs, researchers with University of Exeter Medical School in the United Kingdom conducted rectal swabs on 143 British coastline surfers and found 13 individuals — 9 percent — were colonized with E. coli resistant to the antibiotic cefotaxime. Among 130 study participants who did not surf, four — 3 percent — were colonized with the bacteria.
"Antimicrobial resistance has been globally recognized as one of the greatest health challenges of our time, and there is now an increasing focus on how resistance can be spread through our natural environments," said Anne Leonard, PhD, an associate research fellow with the University of Exeter and one of the study's authors. "We urgently need to know more about how humans are exposed to these bacteria and how they colonize our guts. This research is the first of its kind to identify an association between surfing and gut colonization by antibiotic resistant bacteria."
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