| Summary |
Vibrio and Aeromonas species occur widely in the environment, particularly in estuarine waters. In recent years, the importance of these species has been recognized in medical and environmental microbiology. Serious and sometimes fatal wound infections have been reported following recreational and occupational exposure to surface waters with Vibrio cholerae and Aeromonas hydrophile as the causative agents. This study is an investigation of the role of Vibrio cholerae and Aeromonas hydrophila as potential pathogens of public health concern. A survey of the incidence and distribution of freshwater wound infections acquired following occupational and recreational exposure to rivers and estuarine waters was performed in selected areas of eastern North Carolina. Wound swab samples supplied by participating clinics were screened for Vibrio and Aeromonas species in an attempt to document these organisms as agents of infection. Many of these wound cases were the direct result of punctures and bites from shellfish or crustacea. A substantial number of cases were related to activities in seafood manufacturing plants. Water sampling of selected areas for V. cholerae showed that the organisms are indigenous to estuarine waters. The densities obtained from this study are not a useful measure of public health risk since the virulence of these free-living strains was not assessed. No link can be made showing the free-living strains are causative agents of wound infections. The data from this survey show that the problem of infection from shellfish and estuarine waters is frequent and abundant, but not all together serious. Many physicians believe that the infections are most prevalent in seafood processing plants where temperatures may allow the organisms to multiply rapidly and reach an infective level. Levels in recreational waters may be low as shown by the data from this study and therefore pose very little problems as far as infective dose is concerned. An investigation into the infections from seafood processing plants may provide valuable data concerning prevalence and infective levels of Vibrio and Aeromonas. |
| General note | "Presented to the faculty of the Department of Environmental Health ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science." |
| General note | Advisor: Bernard E. Kane, Jr. |
| Dissertation note | M.S. East Carolina University 1987 |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 48-55). |
| Genre/form | Academic theses. |
| Genre/form | Academic theses. |
| Genre/form | Thèses et écrits académiques. |
