Health Dangers Lurking in the Sand at the Beach

Health Wellness

Image result for Dangers of beach sand

Summer is here and who doesn’t long to spend some time on a beautiful sandy beach? Feeling a soft breeze wafting in from the water, the relaxing sound of waves lapping up on the sands and warming rays of the sun, helps many forget about the stress of job and home. Watching the waves shimmering in the sun can almost be hypnotic.

For those who are still concerned about staying active, they choose to walk or jog along the beach. I recently wrote that running barefoot on the beach has both positives and negatives. The sand offers more resistance causing one to use their muscles more which can be a benefit, but the sand is also an abrasive, like sand paper, and can wear the skin off from the bottom of the feet, which can be quite painful.

However, as great as the beach sounds and as much as it entices you and your family during your summer vacation, here are some things you may want to consider before traveling to the beach.

Did you know that there are a variety of dangerous little things lurking in the sand you long to dig your toes into? Those dangers include:

  • Hookworms – Hookworms are tiny parasites that usually are found in animals (including dogs and cats). Infected animals poop on the sandy beach or in the nearby water. The poop contains the eggs of hookworms. When someone walks over the infected sand or lies down on the sand, they can contract the hookworm parasites. There was a recent report of a couple from Canada who both contracted hookworms from walking barefoot along a beach on a Caribbean island.
  • Roundworms – Studies in France and Australia found that beaches that allowed dogs were readily infected with a roundworm parasite known as Toxocara canis. Although usually confined to dogs, there have been a few reports of people contracting this roundworm.
  • Stomach Bugs – Many places regularly test the waters along beaches and if contamination levels are too high, they’ll close the beach. However, the water isn’t the only place that contaminates live – they also live in the sand. A recent study of 53 beaches in California found that the sand contained Escherichia coli, Enterococcus, Salmonella and Campylobacter, all of which can make a person pretty sick and ruin a vacation.
  • Fungi – Generally when we think of fungi, mushrooms come to mind along with damp forests, but there are a variety of fungi that are also found in the sand of many beaches. Some of these fungi can cause skin and nail infections, and even lung infections.
  • MRSA – Also known as superbug MRSA, which stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. This is a very nasty and potentially deadly bacteria that can cause severe infections and is generally resistant to many types of anti-biotic, making it difficult to treat. A study of the sand from 3 California beaches found that 53% contained some form of staph bacteria, with MRSA found in 2.7% of the samples.

I’m not saying don’t go to the beach, but if you do, you need to be aware of some of the potential hazards you may encounter. With as many people that frequent the beaches, it seems your chance of contracting any of these things may seem small, but then someone does get them.

bacteria Beaches Fungus Parasites Summer Vacation

Related Posts