
Surfers three times more likely to have antibiotic-resistant bacteria in guts - fern12
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-01/uoe-stt011118.php
======
aresant
No coastal surf break that's close to civilization is safe from bacteria
infestation but it is manageable.

BUT sewage regulation can go a long, long way - take a look at the San Diego
bacteria report [http://www.sdbeachinfo.com](http://www.sdbeachinfo.com) \-
the regularly sampled coastal water is in general pretty good even though
there was rain in SoCal last week.

Meanwhile less than 30 miles away the surf breaks next to Tijuana, Mexico are
extremely high bacteria - that's about par for the course - really sad to see:

[http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/environment/sd-
me-t...](http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/environment/sd-me-tj-spills-
continue-20170914-story.html)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEyeCm0GVKg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEyeCm0GVKg)

~~~
rcpt
That sewage is gross but the waves that break right near the outflow look ass
kicking [https://youtu.be/gcMqr_vbInI](https://youtu.be/gcMqr_vbInI)

~~~
el_benhameen
Imperial Beach is supposed to have one of the best beach breaks in San Diego
county besides Black’s, but even the mayor got sick from surfing it. Major
bummer.

[http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/environment/sd-
me-t...](http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/environment/sd-me-tj-sewage-
spill-20171101-story.html)

~~~
tome
> even the mayor got sick from surfing it. Major bummer.

You'd think those damn bugs would know better than to get the mayor.

------
clueless123
Unfortunately, I do not need to see a study to know that the waters near Lima
(Where I live & surf) are full of crap.. That said, the healthy effects of the
exercising on the sea must counteract the bacteria, because I don't know a
healthier group than the surfing community around here.

~~~
computator
> _The healthy effects of the exercising on the sea must counteract the
> bacteria, because I don 't know a healthier group than the surfing community
> around here._

You're making a conclusion about cause and effect. It might be the case that
the majority of people who take up surfing are extremely healthy since it's a
physically demanding sport.

~~~
bufferoverflow
It's not that physically demanding. I've seen 3-4 year olds in Hawaii do it.
Like in any sport, it depends on how far you want to push yourself.

~~~
maaaats
I've seen kids run, doesn't mean it's not physical demanding to run.

~~~
bufferoverflow
It's not, if you don't want it to be. Old grandmas run.

~~~
always_good
Are you saying surfers don't in general take surfing to physically demanding
limits? If not, then I'm not sure what your point is. That you could dial it
down if you wanted to even though surfers don't, but they could if they wanted
to?

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nightfly
"The Beach Bums study asked 300 people, half of whom regularly surf the UK's
coastline, to take rectal swabs" Good double meaning there.

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66d8kk
I always remember when I first started surfing at the age of 10 in the North
Sea. I was always sick and off from school with stomach bugs.

My anecdote is hardly scientific proof but this article certainly supports my
thinking that I've now got a stronger stomach than most due to surfing at such
a young age in terrible water conditions.

Over a period of a few years it just stopped and I was never ill again (after
a surf)...apart from the dreaded and incredibly painful ear infections.

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yesenadam
Download link for the original paper:

[http://libgen.io/scimag/ads.php?doi=10.1016%2Fj.envint.2017....](http://libgen.io/scimag/ads.php?doi=10.1016%2Fj.envint.2017.11.003)

~~~
yesenadam
For me, the most surprising bit was in the _Conflicts of interest_ section:

"Professor Hawkey [from the Institution of Microbiology and Infection,
University of Birmingham] reports grants and personal fees from Eumedica,
grants and personal fees from Pfizer, personal fees from Merck, personal fees
from Novartis, personal fees from Magus Communications, personal fees from Bio
Merieux, personal fees from Wyth, from Becton Dickinson, personal fees from
Novacta, personal fees from Novolytics, outside the submitted work."

Wow, I'm in the wrong business. /s

~~~
ekianjo
Amazing that doctors can get away with NOT disclosing any of that information
when prescribing any medicine to patients. I would certainly want to know what
they get from X when they prescribe a certain drug with other alternatives
around.

~~~
mirimir
As I understand it, they don't get paid for prescribing stuff. Rather, they
get paid for persuading other physicians to prescribe stuff. Through speaking
fees, payments for putting their name on favorable publications, and so on.

~~~
ekianjo
> As I understand it, they don't get paid for prescribing stuff.

Yes, this kind of practice has now been outlawed in many developed countries,
but there are tons of indirect ways a doctor can get "favors" from a company.
Free lunches, invitation to seminars, scholarships, speaking fees as you
mention (which can be pretty, pretty generous), publications, reviews,
advisory boards, etc...

So, let's not be naive. Patients should be aware of all this kind of things
because they can clearly influence doctors in their choice of drugs.

~~~
always_good
Somewhat interesting: My sister is a PA and she said the ethics at the clinics
she's worked at at forbid you from taking the lunch offers. Apparently those
sort of ethics are more and more common.

So instead they invite you out to expensive dinners which is of course during
off hours.

------
mseebach
I couldn't really figure this out from the article: What's the link between
_antibiotic-resistant_ bacteria, and manure run-off/sewage? It's obvious that
there'd be more bacteria, but what's the deal specifically with them being
antibiotic-resistant?

~~~
ivanhoe
Antibiotics are heavily abused to help the survival of farm animals that are
kept in really bad conditions. One horror story from big farms around here
where I live is that in summer they spray cows with water to cool them in
overcrowded boxes that they're kept in. But problem is that those cows are
then left all wet and will often catch a cold and develop a pneumonia if
untreated, so farmers give them antibiotics regularly to prevent this. I know
this for cattle farms first-hand, but I've heard that pig farms are even worse
offenders.

~~~
jessriedel
My understanding is that the primary use of antibiotics in farm animals is for
more rapid animal growth, not to prevent visible symptoms of infection. (It's
not clear why antibiotics promote growth, but it's possible they are
suppressing minor asymptomatic infections that sap calories.)

In any case, the article is slightly misleading since the overlap between
important human antibiotics and the widely used animal antibiotics is modest.

[http://animalantibiotics.org/antibiotics-used-farm-
animals/](http://animalantibiotics.org/antibiotics-used-farm-animals/)

~~~
owenmarshall
> the overlap between important human antibiotics and the widely used animal
> antibiotics is modest.

The overlap may be modest, but the evidence clearly indicates that the
resistances as a result of them do impact important human antibiotics:

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3194830/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3194830/)

> Increased virginiamycin use in Danish broilers during the mid-1990s
> correlated with a rise in resistant E. faecium prevalence, from 27% to ∼70%
> (7). Following the ban, resistance declined to 34% in 2000. Likewise, in
> Denmark, the 1998 ban on the use of tylosin in swine resulted in a decline
> in erythromycin (a structurally related macrolide) resistance, from 66% to
> 30%

> The finding of bacterial cross-resistance between NTAs used in food animals
> and human drugs was aptly demonstrated with avoparcin (an AGP) and its close
> relative vancomycin (an important human therapeutic) when vancomycin-
> resistant enterococci (VRE) emerged as a serious human pathogen. A
> connecting link between resistance in animals and humans was revealed when
> Bates et al. found avoparcin- and vancomycin-coresistant enterococci in pigs
> and small animals from two separate farms. Ribotyping methods showed that
> some of the patterns from farms and sewage exactly matched those of
> Enterococcus spp. from the hospital (24). The structures of the two drugs
> are similar: they are both members of the glycopeptide family

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mrfusion
I wonder what the p value is. 9% vs 3% in a sample of 300 doesn’t sound that
compelling.

~~~
itronitron
Yeah, it would be interesting to do the same study in California and see if
the percentage was higher or lower, they could even break it down by closest
major city, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, etc.

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jasonkester
Totally worth it.

Just your periodic reminder that Surfing is one of the most fun things that a
person can do on this planet, as evidenced by the fact that so many people
have essentially dropped out of society and dedicated their lives to doing it
every day.

If you live in a place near the water such as, say, the San Francisco Bay
Area, and you have never tried surfing, you owe it to yourself to head down to
Santa Cruz this weekend and give it a try.

Minor warning, though, you'll likely end up wearing your own personal groove
into that highway over the next several years as you find excuses to sneak in
a quick one _every single morning_ once you get hooked.

~~~
malikNF
>>as evidenced by the fact that so many people have essentially dropped out of
society and dedicated their lives to doing it every day.

Sorry what? I hear people who do hard drugs that ruin their lives do the same
thing. You know, drop out of society and dedicate their entire life doing it.

~~~
Lewton
Drugs are also some of the most fun things that a person can do on this planet

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chiefalchemist
If the surfers are swallowing that much water why aren't more of them carries?
Is it possible some of them for some reason have a natural "immunity"?

Also, it's at least possible (in theory) it's not the water at all. What if,
just an example, many of them have the same weed dealer? Perhaps not the ideal
example. But life is complex and surfing might not be THE common tread for
this situation.

Or what if they ate ice cream? (Note: I know the difference between bacteria
and virus. The link is simply to suggest the possibility of some other
"trigger.")

[https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/01/the-curious-case-
of-...](https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/01/the-curious-case-of-a-boring-
sugar-that-may-have-unleashed-a-savage-plague/)

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intrasight
Then I had better stop surfing Hacker News ;)

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fiftyacorn
I bet open water swimmers have more - i remember doing open water and you
always took a few mouthfuls of water by mistake during swims

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jlg23
Anybody checked the original study? Having a group that fights against sewage
pollution in the interest of surfers recruit the surfers sounds.. sketchy at
least.

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blablabla123
I wonder how many of them cook for themselves and buy only organic meat.

