Assessment of Staphylococcus Bacteria in Hawaii's Marine Recreational Waters

Abstract

Several media to specifically recover staphylococcus from marine recreational waters in Hawaii were evaluated. The membrane filtration method using Vogel-Johnson and Tellurite Glycine Agar media supplemented with 0.005% sodium azide were shown to quantitatively recover total staphylococcus and S. aureus from marine recreational waters. Beaches in Hawaii were determined to contain high or low concentrations of staphylococci based on Favero's proposed standard of 100 staphylococci/100 ml as the maximum allowable concentration. Statistical analysis of the data showed that levels of total staphylococci were significantly correlated with that of S. aureus and with swimmer density. Staphylococci were recovered from beach waters throughout the day, including evening hours, indicating the stability of these bacteria in marine waters. Moreover, the antibiotic sensitivity patterns and phage types of S. aureus isolates from marine waters and from clinical human skin cultures were similar. These results support the hypothesis that recreational waters can serve as vehicles for the transmission of staphylococcal skin infections.