I agree your are more likely to die from driving to Publix but you can still get sick, and how many skin conditions doctors don’t know what causes them. My general concern is we are only beginning to learn what is growing in our oceans. I don’t want to expose myself or my family to dangers that generally doctors don’t have a clue about. Here are just some examples. Yes, the odds are very small, but put a reef tank in every house and the odds will increase.
from a quick google:
V vulnificus, a natural inhabitant of coastal salt water primarily during the summer months, is a highly virulent pathogen that causes life-threatening wound infections following contact with seawater. These organisms have the capability to produce a rapidly progressing necrotizing fasciitis. Surgical debridement is required in addition to appropriate antibiotics. Even with timely therapy, mortality is high.[2]
Aeromonas hydrophilia and Plesiomonas shigelloides (a related species) are found in marine environments and are causative agents in wound infections. These 2 organisms generally cause a less aggressive soft tissue infection, although necrotizing fasciitis caused by Aeromonas has been reported.[3]
Nontuberculous mycobacteria are another group of pathogens believed to infect humans through natural aerosols. Mycobacterium avium complex and Mycobacterium kansasii have been cultured from a variety of water sources, including lakes, rivers, swamps, and shower heads. M marinum causes wound infections following direct contact with colonized water. Infection is most commonly reported among fishermen; cleaning aquariums, especially when there is a hand laceration, is another classic cause of this infection.[4] Other pathogenic bacteria transmitted to humans through contact with water include Leptospira, Erysipelothrix, and the Enterobacteriaceae. Fungi are rarely transmitted to humans via water.[3]
S putrefaciens was first isolated from tainted butter in 1931 by Derby and Hammer, who named the new organism Achromobacter putrefaciens.[5] Subsequently, it underwent multiple name changes; it was classified with the genuses Alteromonas, Flavobacterium (group 4), and Pseudomonas. The name S putrefaciens was proposed in 1985.
Belonging to the family Vibrionaceae, S putrefaciens is easily identified as the only nonfermenting gram-negative bacillus that produces hydrogen sulfide. This organism is a saprophyte with a wide distribution in nature. It is found in all types of water: fresh, stagnant, sea, lake, river, and even sewage. It has been isolated from soil, oil emulsions, milk, meats, fish, and frogs. S putrefaciens is well known as one of the more important organisms causing spoilage of chilled fish, beef, and pork.[6,7] It is an unusual human pathogen, with fewer than 80 cases of human infection reported to date. In 1997, Chen and associates[8] reported 16 cases of S putrefaciens infections in humans and reviewed 59 cases from the literature. Of the patients with S putrefaciens bacteremia, 60% also had other bacteria isolated from blood cultures, and similarly, half of the patients who had S putrefaciens isolated in clinical specimens other than blood had mixed infections. Sources included wound swabs, sputum, intra-abdominal abscesses, pleural fluid, cerebrospinal fluid, and synovial fluid. Because of the frequent association of S putrefaciens with other bacterial pathogens, the authors questioned its direct pathogenic role.
I've always just picked my up barehanded...
