Trial reportInternational journal of epidemiology2010
The BEACHES Study: health effects and exposures from non-point source microbial contaminants in subtropical recreational marine waters.
Trial report in International journal of epidemiology, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 53 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
53 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The use of faecal indicator organisms to manage microbial health risks in recreational waterways not impacted by point sources of sewage: a systematic review of the epidemiological evidence.Journal of water and health · 2025Pooled it
- Evaluating health risks associated with exposure to ambient surface waters during recreational activities: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Water research · 2020Pooled it
- Wave-driven resuspension as the dominant environmental predictor of enterococci at Chicago beaches.Environmental monitoring and assessment · 2026Article
- Acute gastrointestinal illness burden associated with water recreation in high-income countries: A scoping review.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2025Article
- Application of a microbial and pathogen source tracking toolbox to identify infrastructure problems in stormwater drainage networks: a case study.Microbiology spectrum · 2024Article
- Environmental predictors ofEpidemiology and infection · 2024Article
- Fecal Impairment Framework, A New Conceptual Framework for Assessing Fecal Contamination in Recreational Waters.Environmental management · 2024Article
- Integrating microbial source tracking with quantitative microbial risk assessment to evaluate site specific risk based thresholds at two South Florida beaches.Frontiers in microbiology · 2023Article
- Health-related behaviors and associated factors among swimming pool users in Kombolcha Town, Northeastern Ethiopia.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Plant debris are hotbeds for pathogenic bacteria on recreational sandy beaches.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Relationship between Rainfall, Fecal Pollution, Antimicrobial Resistance, and Microbial Diversity in an Urbanized Subtropical Bay.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2020Article
- Tracking faecal microorganisms using the qPCR method in a typical urban catchment in China.Environmental monitoring and assessment · 2020Article
- Children Exposure-Related Behavior Patterns and Risk Perception Associated with Recreational Beach Use.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
- Visitors to a Tropical Marine Beach Show Evidence of Immunoconversions to Multiple Waterborne Pathogens.Frontiers in public health · 2019Article
- World's Largest Mass Bathing Event Influences the Bacterial Communities of Godavari, a Holy River of India.Microbial ecology · 2018Article
- Exposure to Human-Associated Chemical Markers of Fecal Contamination and Self-Reported Illness among Swimmers at Recreational Beaches.Environmental science & technology · 2018Article
- Environmental Factors Correlated with Culturable Enterococci Concentrations in Tropical Recreational Waters: A Case Study in Escambron Beach, San Juan, Puerto Rico.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2017Article
- Exposure to human-associated fecal indicators and self-reported illness among swimmers at recreational beaches: a cohort study.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2017Article
- Acute Illness Among Surfers After Exposure to Seawater in Dry- and Wet-Weather Conditions.American journal of epidemiology · 2017Article
- Respiratory Problems Associated with Surfing in Coastal Waters.EcoHealth · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
18 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMicrobial water-quality indicators, in high concentrations in sewage, are used to determine whether water is safe for recreational purposes. Recently, the use of these indicators to regulate recreational water bodies, particularly in sub/tropical recreational marine waters without known sources of sewage, has been questioned. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the risk to humans from exposure to subtropical recreational marine waters with no known point source, and the possible relationship between microbe densities and reported symptoms in human subjects with random-exposure assignment and intensive individual microbial monitoring in this environment.
methodsA total of 1303 adult regular bathers were randomly assigned to bather and non-bather groups, with subsequent follow-up for reported illness, in conjunction with extensive environmental sampling of indicator organisms (enterococci).
resultsBathers were 1.76 times more likely to report gastrointestinal illness [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.94-3.30; P = 0.07]; 4.46 times more likely to report acute febrile respiratory illness (95% CI 0.99-20.90; P = 0.051) and 5.91 times more likely to report a skin illness (95% CI 2.76-12.63; P < 0.0001) relative to non-bathers. Evidence of a dose-response relationship was found between skin illnesses and increasing enterococci exposure among bathers [1.46 times (95% CI 0.97-2.21; P = 0.07) per increasing log(10) unit of enterococci exposure], but not for gastrointestinal or respiratory illnesses.
conclusionsThis study indicated that bathers may be at increased risk of several illnesses relative to non-bathers, even in the absence of any known source of domestic sewage impacting the recreational marine waters. There was no dose-response relationship between gastroenteritis and increasing exposure to enterococci, even though many current water-monitoring standards use gastroenteritis as the major outcome illness.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.