Abstract
IN his inaugural thesis (These de Paris1940, No. 17), Dr. Marcel Mazillier remarks that it has been known from remote antiquity that certain diseases may be spread by swimming baths, as is shown by the fact that admission to them was forbidden to lepers and others suffering from contagious diseases. The micro-organisms found in the water of bathing places are numerous and of various kinds, the water becoming rapidly contaminated by bacteria derived from the mouth, nose, faeces and urine of the bathers. The diseases contracted in swimming baths chiefly affect the throat, ears and eyes. Cases of spirochaetal jaundice, in which the disease may be localized in the meninges, may occur as well as skin diseases, especially that known as ‘athletes' foot’. It is therefore important that in constructing a swimming bath care should be taken so far as possible to eliminate causes of contamination, whether derived from the bather himself, who should give himself a douch before entering the bath, the water used for washing out the bath, or other sources. Provision must also be made for the proper heating, ventilating and lighting of the establishment. The drinking water, which must possess all the requisite qualities, may be purified by ultra-violet rays, though this is rather a difficult and expensive process, or by the addition of bactericidal chemical products such as chlorine and its derivatives, colloidal metals and ozone.
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Hygiene of Swimming Baths. Nature 145, 738 (1940). https://doi.org/10.1038/145738b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/145738b0