Swimming Pools: A Favourable Environment for the Transfer of Bacterial Resistance

Abstract

Bacterial resistance to diverse antimicrobials and biocides is a growing public health concern of global implications, which is why resistant bacteria are considered emerging environmental contaminants. Due to the selective pressure exerted by antimicrobi- als such as chlorine and other strong oxidants, this problem tends to increase, especially in environments such as swimming pools, where antimicrobials are being used in strong but non-lethal concentrations. Some bacteria report, in addition to a marked resis- tance to disinfection, the ability to live for prolonged periods in the presence of chlorine, which has important implications for public health. Through a review in different databases, the most relevant and updated articles on microbiological analysis in swimming pool water were chosen. The results showed that most of the studies are focused on the analysis of water quality, only considering indi- cator groups, but few studies focus on antibiotic-resistant bacteria capable of withstanding chlorination while retaining antibiotic resistance genes in the environment.

All this considered, the main objective of this review is to present updated information and delve into the role of swimming pools as an environment conducive to the harboring of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.