Sunburn and sharks most often scare away beachgoers but perhaps this new reason might keep people from enjoying the beach all too often. According to the preliminary research report released this week, it only takes an exposure of 10 minutes to the ocean water for the body to be covered with a fresh layer of bacteria.
While not all of these bacteria are bad, most of them could cause serious health concerns that could disrupt the delicate microbial layer of the skin also popularly known as the biome.
A team of researchers from the University of California, Irvine recruited a group of beachgoers. They were the people who were yet to bathe in the ocean and has not used sunscreen at that time. They have also been restricted to people who are not under any form of medication for six months and have not bathed for the last 12 hours. Samples from the skin swab were collected from the 9 volunteers before they went for a 10-minute swim. Upon their return and after they have completely dried off, the skin was swabbed and then another one after six hours and then a day later.
"The data we have collected shows that the initial exposure to ocean water creates an alteration of the human skin microbiome," said Marisa Chattman Nielsen, lead author of the study and a Ph.D. student of the University of California, Irvine. "While swimming, the normal bacteria found in the human skin were washed off while the bacteria in the ocean were deposited onto the skin."
The changes that were observed in the microbiome were temporary, with most of the bacteria well on their way to the baseline after the 24-hour observation period. However, there were some findings that were a bit alarming too. On each of the 9 volunteers, a common bacteria that dwell at see called Vibrio was detected. Although it is essentially harmless, it is one of those that could potentially put a person at risk for cholera or could also, though rarely, cause flesh-eating bacteria that cause skin infections. It particularly targets people with a rather weak immune system.
"While most Vibrio bacteria are not pathogenic, the fact that it was collected on the volunteer's body after swimming only shows that it is possible for pathogenic Vibrio bacteria would potentially persist in the ocean and can affect the swimmers," Nielsen said.
It should be noted however that the results of the study are still a work in progress. They are to be presented in the annual conference of the American Society for Microbiology. If the results are able to hold up, the results should be able to explain the pattern of beachgoers who often complain about getting a stomach ache or ear infections as soon as they get out of the beach.
