Water can contain Staphylococci and Brainworms
In recent years, various household medical devices that require water have become very popular. These are, for example, portable humidifiers or nasal wash devices. In theory, they should protect against any infection, but, as experts from the American Centers for Disease Prevention and Treatment (CDC) found out, many citizens, without hesitation, fill them with tap water, which, on the contrary, increases the risk of the spread of infections, including legionellosis or amoeba. cerebellum.
Water is used in medical devices such as nasal washes, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines, vaporizers, and portable humidifiers. With their help, nasal lavage, inhalation and contact lens rinsing are carried out.
As they say, the CDC (and this is the analogue of Rospotrebnadzor) warns: tap water is not sterile, and although it is possible to drink it, its use in household medical devices can lead to infection with waterborne pathogens. However, many participants in a recent US survey genuinely believe that tap water is safe to use for home medical devices.
Thus, a third (33%) of respondents answered that there are no bacteria or living beings in tap water. More often such frivolous answers were given by men and city dwellers. More than half (62%) of the participants answered that tap water could be used for sinus rinsing, 50% for contact lens rinsing and 42% for breathing apparatus. Respondents were asked how they use tap water in households. Most people reported using tap water for drinking, cooking, bathing and washing their hands. Approximately a quarter (24%) of those surveyed reported filling humidifiers or CPAP machines with tap water, 13% reported using tap water to rinse their nose, and 9% reported using tap water to rinse contact lenses.
< p>“While most people understand what sterile water is and accept that tap water is not sterile, a significant proportion of people responded that tap water can be used to rinse the nose, rinse contact lenses and fill breathing devices,” American epidemiologists wonder.< /p>
Although tap water is treated to safe drinking standards, levels of microorganisms remain low in drinking water distribution systems. Most are harmless and the water is safe for drinking and cooking, but it may not always be safe for other uses such as aerosol inhalation and irrigation of the eyes or nose.
What are these microorganisms? Epidemiologists provide answers to this question. For example, Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the most frequent pathogens of nosocomial infections. In an aquatic environment at a temperature of 37 ° C, the bacterium can survive for a year. Treatment is difficult due to high resistance to antibiotics. They are also non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTMs), which cause lung diseases that resemble tuberculosis. Among the bacteria surviving in drinking water is the well-known Legionella spp., which causes «legionnaires' disease» and is often transmitted through air conditioners. In addition, it is Acanthamoeba spp. (protozoa that cause skin damage) and Naegleria fowleri (an amoeba named «amoeba-brainworm» — it causes a serious illness, as it feeds on brain tissue and literally destroys the brain). Most HTM and Legionella infections are acquired through inhalation. Previous studies have shown measurable concentrations of HTMs in aerosols from humidifiers. Water quality affects the quality of aerosol air emitted by humidifiers, scientists warn.
Overseas epidemiologists note that in the United States, only three of these pathogens (Pseudomonas spp., NTM and Legionella spp.) are responsible for most of the 120,000 hospitalizations, 7,000 deaths, and billions of direct healthcare costs associated with diseases transmitted through water. Such estimates are not kept in Russia.
The elderly, infants and young children, as well as people with a weakened immune system and other comorbidities, are most at risk of acquiring infections with high consequences.
What's the way out? Alas, you need to use sterile water when operating such devices — it definitely does not contain organic microbes, or (even better) distilled water. Alternatively, you can boil tap water for 5 minutes and then cool. A more complicated option is ultraviolet treatment for 45 seconds.
According to military doctor Alexei Vodovozov, nigleria amoeba that eat the brain are rare in our northern latitudes, legionella is also infrequent guests, however, the «zoo» of pathogens, which can be obtained by inhaling tap water «impressive and far from safe»: it is also Staphylococcus aureus (Staphylococcus aureus), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Moraxella catarrhalis diplococcus (causes infections of the ear, upper and lower respiratory tract), and Acinetobacter baumannii with Klebsiella pneumoniae (bacteria that cause severe pneumonia). «What to do? Use specially prepared water. That is, sterile (water for injection, for example), distilled, or boiled and then cooled. Bottled water is also suitable, say, for humidifiers or washing the nose,» the expert advises.