Standard methods to measure recreational water quality require at least 24 hr to obtain results, making it impossible to assess the quality of water within a single day. Methods to measure recreational water quality in <or=2 hr have been developed. Application of rapid methods could give considerably more accurate and timely assessments of recreational water quality. We conducted a prospective ...

Studies using culture dependent methods have indicated that enterococci, the fecal indicator used to monitor marine waters for the potential of enteric disease risk to swimmers, can be abundant in beach sands and may contribute to water column indicator exceedances. A quantitative PCR (qPCR) method for the Enterococcus genus was tested and applied to more rapidly determine the amount of enteroc...

Ants known for attacking and killing hatchling birds and reptiles include the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta Buren), tropical fire ant [Solenopsis geminata (Fabr.)], and little fire ant [Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger)]. We tested whether sea turtle nest placement influenced exposure to predaceous ants. In 2000 and 2001, we surveyed ants along a Florida beach where green turtles (Chel...

BACKGROUND There seems to be a discrepancy between the available heat stress guidelines and the actual risk of heat-related illness among professional beach volleyball players competing under hot and humid conditions. OBJECTIVE To monitor heat stress and record cases of heat-related medical forfeits on the Swatch FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. METHODS The FIVB Heat Stress Monitoring Prot...

There is currently no established bacteriological beach quality monitoring (BQM) program in place in Malaysia. To initiate cost-effective, sustainable bacteriological BQM schemes for the ultimate goal of protecting public health, policy decision makers need to be provided robust, indigenous empirical findings that validate appropriate water quality parameters for inclusion in such monitoring pr...

BACKGROUND Earaches and outer ear infections are commonly associated with swimming. In this study, we estimated the excess risk and health burden of earaches due to swimming in natural fresh and marine waters using results from a survey of over 50,000 beachgoers at nine beaches across the United States. METHODS Prospective cohort studies were conducted at four freshwater and five marine sites...