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    Swimming Is So Healthy, But Public Pools? Researchers Say Maybe Not So Much

    By Vitamin G, Glamour Magazine | Healthy Living – Fri, Jan 29, 2010 10:03 PM EST

    http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/blogs/partner/90medlarge.jpgIf you love to swim--or just enjoy an occasional splash in the summer--researchers have some interesting, if not a tad disturbing, news for you. We've talked about the germ-factor of public pools and hot tubs in the past, but the research on the subject isn't making us any more confident about it.

    According to a large new study from Australian researchers, a dip in the public pool or local lake could increase your odds of catching the stomach flu.

    The scientists found that more than 2,800 adults and children they followed for 15 months, participants were somewhat more likely to develop gastroenteritis (aka, a stomach bug) in the week or two following a public swim.

    The study seems to show a correlation between swimming and a bunch of nasty bugs--including viral, bacterial or parasitic infections, all leading to stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea and fever.

    Yeah, a little gross. Still, I'm not convinced that swimming is the evil one--yet. Just practice good hygiene, of course: Don't drink the water (duh), suds up afterward, and please don't go swimming when you're sick, when you're more likely to spread illness and catch illness as your immune system is already taxed.

    Do you ever feel uneasy about public pools?

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    5 comments

    • k8blujay
      k8blujay  •  2 years 4 months ago
      No not really, because I assume (having been a lifeguard at one point in my life) that good lifeguards do everything they can to keep the chlorine and acid levels to a level that keeps the water clean but not toxic...
    • Mauna
      Mauna  •  2 years 4 months ago
      Especially if you have little ones who pee in the pool, yeah I can see the hygene problems in a public pool.
    • KrystyneC
      KrystyneC  •  2 years 4 months ago
      Well, as a lifeguard, I know that they try to keep the pool as clean as possible and as you mentioned, that if anyone gets sick etc. we close down. However, have you seen pools at the end of a sweltering summer's day? There is so much scum in the water from the loads of sunscreen on people to just general body dirt. Our pool guys tell us that if that many people are constantly in a pool that the water is going to get cloudy and gross, so you look at our pool at the end of the day and tell me if you still want to go swimming.
    • A Yahoo! User  •  2 years 4 months ago
      I am a lifeguard and we check our clorine and Ph three times a day.
      We also vaccum the pool twice a week, and shock it about once a week.
      If a patron vomits or emit fecal matter into the pool, we automaticlly shut down, remove the matter and shock the pool agian and dont let anyone back in for another 2 hours.
      It really does suck when that happens but we keep the pool as clean as possible to aviod anyone being sick
    • A Yahoo! User  •  2 years 4 months ago
      Think about this, people are peeing, blowing their nose, farting, on their periods, it can get grose and some people sneek in and have sex at night. You are not swimming in crystal clean, sparkling water folks. It's a cess pool....grose!
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