Survey of Staphylococcus aureus contamination in a hospital's spa and hydrotherapy pools.
Twenty-seven percent of water samples taken from one spa and two hydrotherapy pools in one Welsh hospital over three months contained Staphylococcus aureus. Four per cent of samples were deemed unacceptable because they contained coliforms, E. coli or Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Aerobic colony counts varied between samples but no counts were > 100 cfu/ml. Disinfection and pH records indicated no significant problems with pool maintenance over the sampling period, and bather loads were generally low. Some samples positive for S. aureus were found after lengthy periods of pool inactivity, indicating persistence of the organism.
Meldrum
R
R
Food, Water and Environmental Section, Cardiff Public Health Laboratory, PHLS in Wales, Health Park, Cardiff CF14 4XW. richard.meldrum@phls.wales.nhs.uk
D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003625:Data Collection; D004755:Enterobacteriaceae / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004866:Equipment Contamination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004865:Equipment and Supplies, Hospital / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000592:standards; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D006875:Hydrotherapy / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000592:standards*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014852:Wales; D014871:Water Microbiology / Q000592:standards*