People who swim, bathe or take part in water sports in the sea are substantially more likely to experience stomach bugs, ear aches and other types of illness than those who do not.
People who swim, bathe or take part in water sports in the sea are substantially more likely to experience stomach bugs, ear aches and other types of illness than those who do not.
The large-scale research analysis was led by the University of Exeter Medical School in collaboration with the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. It is the first systematic review to examine the evidence on whether spending time in the sea is associated with increased risk of reporting a variety of ailments.
The results demonstrated that sea bathing doubled the odds of reporting general ear ailments, and the odds of reporting earache specifically rose by 77%. For gastrointestinal illnesses, the odds increased by 29%.
Dr Anne Leonard, of the University of Exeter Medical School, said: “In high-income 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 swimmers in some of the world’s richest countries.”
Despite significant investment resulting in an improvement water quality in recent years, seawater is still polluted from sources including industrial waste, sewage and run-off from farmland.
Read more at University of Exeter
Photo Credit: StockSnap via Pixabay
