ABSTRACT
Recreational water quality is commonly assessed by microbial indicators such as fecal coliforms. Maceió is the capital of Alagoas state, located in tropical northeastern Brazil. Its beaches are considered as the most beautiful urban beaches in the country. Jatiúca Beach in Maceió was found to be unsuitable for bathing continuously during the year of 2011. The same level of contamination was not observed in surrounding beaches. The aim of this study was to initiate the search for the sources of these high coliform levels, so that contamination can be eventually mitigated. We performed a retrospective analysis of historical results of fecal coliform concentrations from 2006 to 2012 at five monitoring stations located in the study region. Results showed that Jatiúca Beach consistently presented the worst quality among the studied beaches. A field survey was conducted to identify existing point and non-point sources of pollution in the area. Monitoring in the vicinity of Jatiúca was spatially intensified. Fecal coliform concentrations were categorized according to tide range and tide stage. A storm drain located in northern Jatiúca was identified as the main point source of the contamination. However, fecal coliform concentrations at Jatiúca were high during high tides and spring tides even when this point source was inactive (no rainfall). We hypothesize that high fecal coliform levels in Jatiúca Beach may also be caused by aquifer contamination or, more likely, from tide washing of contaminated sand. Both of these hypotheses will be further investigated.
Subject(s)
Bacteria/chemistry , Bacteria/classification , Bacteria/genetics , Bacteria/isolation & purification , Bacteria/microbiology , Brazil/chemistry , Brazil/classification , Brazil/genetics , Brazil/isolation & purification , Brazil/microbiology , Environmental Monitoring/chemistry , Environmental Monitoring/classification , Environmental Monitoring/genetics , Environmental Monitoring/isolation & purification , Environmental Monitoring/microbiology , Feces/chemistry , Feces/classification , Feces/genetics , Feces/isolation & purification , Feces/microbiology , Recreation/chemistry , Recreation/classification , Recreation/genetics , Recreation/isolation & purification , Recreation/microbiology , Retrospective Studies/chemistry , Retrospective Studies/classification , Retrospective Studies/genetics , Retrospective Studies/isolation & purification , Retrospective Studies/microbiology , Seasons/chemistry , Seasons/classification , Seasons/genetics , Seasons/isolation & purification , Seasons/microbiology , Seawater/chemistry , Seawater/classification , Seawater/genetics , Seawater/isolation & purification , Seawater/microbiology , Water Pollution/chemistry , Water Pollution/classification , Water Pollution/genetics , Water Pollution/isolation & purification , Water Pollution/microbiologyABSTRACT
Cystic Fibrosis [CF] is a hereditary multi system disease transmitted as an autosomal recessive, leading to chronic pulmonary disease, pancreatic enzyme deficiency and abnormally high sweat electrolytes. It is considered predominantly a disorder of Caucasians of European descent. The following study refers to an intensive retrospective search for patients with cystic fibrosis from clinical data, hospital record in Salmaniya Medical Centre [SMC], with the aim of determining the incidence of cystic fibrosis in Bahrain. The survey included 27 confirmed cases of cystic fibrosis born during the period 1978-1994. Diagnosis was established by presence of a high sweat sodium and chloride [70 mmoI/1]. The mean incidence during this period was found to be one in 7,700, all cases were diagnosed during the first year of life, and 60% were diagnosed in the first three months of life. Male and female ratio was found to be 14/13 [1:1]. The incidence of meconum ileus was 16%. Mortality in the neonatal period was 60%. First cousin marriage rate among these families was 63%