Risk of Gastroenteritis from Swimming at a Wastewater-Impacted Tropical Beach Varies across Localized Scales.

ABSTRACT: Population growth and changing climate are expected to increase human exposure to pathogens in tropical coastal waters. We examined microbiological water quality in three rivers within 2.3 km of each other that impact a Costa Rican beach and in the ocean outside their plumes during the rainy and dry seasons. We performed quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) to predict the risk of gastroenteritis associated with swimming and the amount of pathogen reduction needed to achieve safe conditions. Recreational water quality criteria based on enterococci were exceeded in >90% of river samples but in only 13% of ocean samples. Multivariate analysis grouped microbial observations by subwatershed and season in river samples but only by subwatershed in the ocean. The modeled median risk from

SUBMITTER: Gonzalez-Fernandez A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10057883 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature