A sunburn may not be the only health consequence of your summer beach trips and pool days. A study published last year estimated that recreational water activities are related to 90 million illnesses each year in the U.S., with swimming as one of the primary catalysts of water-borne respiratory, ear and skin infections.
Less frequently, according to federal data, pathogens found in pools, lakes, rivers and oceans can lead to more serious sickness, including gastrointestinal illnesses and—in very rare cases—exposure to flesh-eating bacteria. This month, for example, a Florida woman died from a flesh-eating bacterial infection after falling and scraping her leg on the beach.
