Maritime environment health risks related to pathogenic microorganisms in seawater

Abstract

Background: Numerous studies show that seawater is the ecological niche of many microorganisms. Some microorganisms are pathogenic to humans. The purpose of this paper is to describe the biological agents and pathologies mentioned in the literature. Materials and methods: This is a review of the literature from the Medline database. Keywords used were: "Bacteria" [MeSH]; "Bacteria/growth and development" [MeSH]; "Bacteria/pathogenicity" [MeSH]; "Viruses" [MeSH]; "Parasites/pathogenicity" [MeSH]; "Seawater" [MeSH]; "Mycoses" [MeSH]; "Eye Infections, Fungal" [MeSH]; "Skin Diseases, Infectious" [MeSH]; "Dermatitis" [MeSH]; "Seawater" [MeSH]. The articles were selected by two doctors from the abstracts, at first. The inclusion criteria were the treatment of a human pathology due to a microorganism contracted in contact with sea water. The exclusion criteria were not-to-treat human pathologies. Results: The main microorganisms were bacteria: S. aureus, Vibrio spp., Pseudomonas spp. The main pathologies described were otorhinolaryngological, ophthalmological, digestive and dermatological infections. Some pathologies had a natural history that could have involved vital prognoses. Conclusions: This analysis of the literature makes it possible to take stock of the pathogens and the main clinical pictures caused by the microorganisms living in seawater or tolerant to the sea water. This article can thus help the clinical physicians launched their microbiological diagnosis in front of this or that clinical picture. It also shows the recent evolution of microbial ecology in seawater, mainly in temperate zones. This constitutes an objective of epidemiological and environmental surveillance in the years to come.