Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-ndmmz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-07T21:44:10.988Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Acute otitis externa in divers working in the North Sea: a microbiological survey of seven saturation dives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

S. R. Alcock
S. R. Alcock
Affiliation:
Department of Bacteriology, Medical School, Foresterhill, Aberdeen
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Saturation diving is an important and widely used technique in the Offshore Oil Industry. During 1974–5 two saturation dives in the North Sea were terminated because of outbreaks of incapacitating otitis externa, and others were disrupted. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was consistently isolated from the ears of affected divers. Because complex work schedules were threatened seven subsequent dives were subjected to microbiological monitoring and control. Colonization of the ear canal with P. aeruginosa or with other gram-negative bacilli occurred in 39 (67%) of the 58 divers studied, usually within 7 days of starting the dive. Data obtained by serotyping the isolations of P. aeruginosa suggested that a single infected diver may be the source of organisms which rapidly spread to his colleagues and throughout the living chambers, that the living chambers may constitute a reservoir of infection during and between dives, and that certain serotypes of P. aeruginosa are more likely than others to colonize the ear canal in the conditions of a saturation dive. The control measures used during the dives were only partially effective, but none of the divers suffered severe pain and all the dives were an operational success.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Hygiene , Volume 78 , Issue 3 , June 1977 , pp. 395 - 409
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

References

REFERENCES

Asheshov, E. H. (1974). An assessment of the methods used for typing strains of P. aeruginosa. Proceedings of the VIth International Congress of Bacteriology, Athens, pp. 9–22.Google Scholar
Beckman, E. L. & Smith, E. M. (1972). Tektite II: medical supervision of the scientists in the sea. Texas Reports on Biology and Medicine 30, 175–84.Google ScholarPubMed
Brown, M. R. W. & Scott Foster, J. H. (1970). A simple diagnostic milk medium for P. aeruginosa. Journal of Clinical Pathology 23, 172–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cobet, A. B., Wright, D. N. & Warren, P. I. (1970). Tektite I – program: bacteriological aspects. Aerospace Medicine 41, 611–16.Google ScholarPubMed
Cowan, S. T. & Steel, K. J. (1965). Manual for the Identification of Medical Bacteria. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cruickshank, R., Duguid, S. P. & Swain, R. H. A. (1969). Medical Microbiology. A Guide to the Laboratory Diagnosis and Control of Infection, 11th ed, p. 963. E. S. Livingston Ltd.Google Scholar
Ericsson, H. M. & Sherris, J. C. (1971). Antibiotic sensitivity testing. Report of an international collaborative study. Acta pathologica et microbiologica scandinavia B, supplement no. 217.Google Scholar
Habs, I. (1957). Research on O-antigens of P. aeruginosa. Zeitschrift für Hygiene und Infectionskrankheiten 144, 218–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hardy, A. V., Mitchell, R. B., Schreiber, M., Hoffert, W. R., Yawn, E. & Young, F. (1954). Bacteriological studies of otitis externa. Laryngoscope 64, 1020–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoadley, A. W. & Knight, D. E. (1975). External otitis among swimmers and non-swimmers. Archives of Environment Health 30, 445–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hojyo-Tomoka, M. T., Marples, R. R. & Kligman, A. M. (1973). Pseudomonas infection in superhydrated skin. Archives of Dermatology 107, 723–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hutchison, J. L. & Wright, D. N. (1975). Prophylaxis of predisposed otitis externa. Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Larynology 84, 16–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morris, J. E. N. (1975). Microbial pollution in submersibles. Annals of Occupational Hygiene 17, 245–6.Google Scholar
Phillips, I. (1969). Identification of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the clinical laboratory. Journal of Medical Microbiology 2, 9–15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reller, L. B.Schoenknecht, F. D., Kenny, M. A. & Sherris, J. C. (1974). Antibiotic susceptibility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa: selection of a control strain and the criteria for magnesium and calcium content in media. Journal of Infectious Diseases 130, 454–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Senturia, B. H. & Liebman, F. M. (1956). Evaluation of the factors which may be of importance in the production of external ear infections. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 27, 291–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sperati, G. & Pefumo, G. (1967). L'ottite esterna die sommazzatori. Archivio Italiano di Otologia, Rinologia e Laryngologia 78, 443–9.Google Scholar
Summitt, J. K., Kelley, J. S., Herron, J. M. & Saltzman, H. A. (1971). 1,000-foot Helium Saturation Exposure. Proceedings of the 4th Symposium on Underwater Physiology, pp. 519–27. Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taplin, D., Zaias, N. & Rebell, G. (1965). Environmental influences on the microbiology of the skin. Archives of Environmental Health 11, 546–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thalman, E. D. (1974). A prophylactic program for the prevention of otitis externa in saturation dives. U.S. Navy Experimental Diving Unit, Washington Navy Yard, Washington D.C. Research Report 10–74.Google Scholar
Wright, D. N. & Alexander, J. M. (1974). Effect of water on the bacterial flora of swimmers' ears. Archives of Otolaryngology 99, 15–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wright, D. N. & Dineen, M. (1972). A model for the study of infectious otitis externa. Archives of Otolaryngology 95, 243–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar