title: Pathogenic fungi: an unacknowledged risk at coastal resorts? New insights on microbiological sand quality in Portugal.
abstract: Whilst the potential impact on beach users from microorganisms in water has received considerable attention, there has been relatively little investigation into microbial contaminants in sand. Thirty three beaches across Portugal were analyzed during a five year period (2006-2010) to determine the presence of yeasts, pathogenic fungi, dermatophytes, total coliforms, Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci in sand. Our results showed that 60.4% of the samples were positive for fungi and that 25.2% were positive for the bacterial parameters. The most frequent fungal species found were Candida sp. and Aspergillus sp., whereas intestinal enterococci were the most frequently isolated bacteria. Positive associations were detected among analyzed parameters and country-regions but none among those parameters and sampling period. Regarding threshold values, we propose 15 cfu/g for yeasts, 17 cfu/g for potential pathogenic fungi, 8 cfu/g for dermatophytes. Twenty-five cfu/g for E. coli, and 10 [corrected] cfu/g for intestinal enterococci.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge, Av. Padre Cruz, 1619-016 Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sabino
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Veríssimo
authors.forename: Maria Ana
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Cunha
authors.forename: Bela
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wergikoski
authors.forename: Filipa C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Parada
authors.forename: Leonor
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Falcão
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rosado
authors.forename: Catarina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pinheiro
authors.forename: Eleonora
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Paixão
authors.forename: João
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brandão
mesh_terms: D003883:Arthrodermataceae / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001493:Bathing Beaches / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D016983:Enterococcus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005658:Fungi / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000382:microbiology*; D011174:Portugal; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology; D014871:Water Microbiology; D015003:Yeasts / Q000302:isolation & purification