Swimming pool attendance, respiratory symptoms and infections in the first year of life

Abstract

No association was detected between pool attendance and LRTI, wheezing, persistent cough, atopic eczema or otitis during the first year of life in Spain.

Swimming attendance during childhood and development of asthma: Meta‐analysis

“…The quality score obtained after review of the full text evaluation is summarized in Table . Ten papers were excluded from meta‐analysis because they had a cross‐sectional study design and/or the methodology of exposure assessment was based only on self‐reports . Two studies were excluded because they had an incomplete study design or lacked relevant quantifiable measures of association .…”

“…The studies included in the meta‐analysis were all European except one (Canadian), suggesting that in Europe there is a high level of attention on this issue. This is probably due to the fact that the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood, a unique worldwide epidemiological research program established in 1991, was formed as the result of an initiative between New Zealand and Germany …”

“…Further studies did not help to clarify this hypothesis. Belgian researchers found that asthma in children was associated with exposure to the irritant environment in indoor disinfected swimming pools; other European studies with larger population‐based sample sizes, with a longitudinal design or a more detailed semi‐quantitative exposure assessment, did not replicate this association . In contrast, given that swimming is less asthmogenic than other land‐based activities, it is well known that this sport is practiced by atopic children and adults, or by subjects with asthma .…”

“…Over the years several studies have reported some adverse effects occurring after swimming, such as acute gastroenteritis (from 3 to 8% of risk of gastroenteritis) and other infectious diseases, or detrimental effects on dermal and respiratory health derived from the exposure to the chemicals in indoor swimming pools . Recent reports focused on the association between the onset of asthma and indoor swimming pool attendance, especially in children . The conceptual rationale for these studies is that biocides used to control the microbiological contamination of swimming pool water and/or the disinfection by‐products generated by these treatments are well‐known irritants.…”

Evidence for alternative exhaled elimination profiles of disinfection by‐products and potential markers of airway responses to swimming in a chlorinated pool environment

“…15 Indeed, there is accumulating body of evidence associating exposure to swimming pool atmospheres with respiratory tract irritation, [16][17][18][19][20] although some reports have failed to support these findings. [21][22][23] A substantive review by Florentin et al 24 provides a valuable oversight of the many and varied factors associated with the health effects of exposure to swimming pools.…”