Live data from Hacker News

Surfers three times more likely to have antibiotic-resistant bacteria in guts

eurekalert.org

71–80 of 90 posts

Re: Surfers three times more likely to have antibiotic-resistant bacteria in guts

#71
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

> even the mayor got sick from surfing it. Major bummer. You'd think those damn bugs would know better than to get the mayor.

[deleted]

Re: Surfers three times more likely to have antibiotic-resistant bacteria in guts

#72

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.

The ones who get really sick silently disappear from the surfing community.

Re: Surfers three times more likely to have antibiotic-resistant bacteria in guts

#73
post #63

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?

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 re…

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/

Re: Surfers three times more likely to have antibiotic-resistant bacteria in guts

#74
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea same. Anecdotal but my surfer friends and I are seemingly never sick but other people I interact with are sick more often.

It seems possible that exposure to bacteria in the water in small doses builds the bodies immune system to deal with those making subsequent problems less likely.

Its crazy. I surf at a spot next to a sewage outflow known to be dirty after rainstorms and have never gotten sick, even though I definitely swallow tons of water from there. There are probably other negative effects I dont realize are happening to my body though im sure.

Re: Surfers three times more likely to have antibiotic-resistant bacteria in guts

#75

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?

a lot of people are going to blindly say 'antibiotics used on animals'. that's probably not the case. the ocean has a high salinity as we all know. The same mechanisms that bacteria evolve to deal with that make it ideal for fighting against antibiotics.

Re: Surfers three times more likely to have antibiotic-resistant bacteria in guts

#76
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 re…

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 ant…

> 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/

> 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

Re: Surfers three times more likely to have antibiotic-resistant bacteria in guts

#77

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 C…

some even go on heists to fund their surfing habit, I saw a documentary about it once.

Point Break was a documentary?? I'll be damned...

Re: Surfers three times more likely to have antibiotic-resistant bacteria in guts

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

some even go on heists to fund their surfing habit, I saw a documentary about it once.

Point Break was a documentary?? I'll be damned...

at least you got it :)

Re: Surfers three times more likely to have antibiotic-resistant bacteria in guts

#79
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If instead you're near the mountains you can get into climbing (or even if you have a climbing gym nearby). Also highly addictive.

Climbing is a different type of addiction. In the mountains, I'd think that paragliding or snowboarding are better alternatives to surfing.

Good point actually. I even like to ski in winter. I'm just addicted to climbing so I didn't even think of snow-surfing.

Re: Surfers three times more likely to have antibiotic-resistant bacteria in guts

#80
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.

Post reply on HN