The U.S. researchers have recently found out that one in three swimmers may get to be infected with the contagious staph bacteria. The places where the bacteria can be found are the crowded public beaches which open to the ocean. The researchers added that people who use to swim in the subtropical marine waters are 37% more likely to be exposed to the bacteria.

They also warned about the presence of an antibiotic resistant staph, which is known as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. Dr. Lisa Plano of the University of Miami told the reporters at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting from Chicago on Friday that they thought that people are the responsible ones for “bringing their organisms into the water and leaving it behind.”

She added that she didn’t know whether that was the only reason for infection because the staph bacteria may still be in the sand that people leave on their departure. Yet, the researchers haven’t gotten their study too far, but they are sure about the thing that the ones who have open injuries or the ones who have their immunity compromised, are also the ones at the biggest risk of infection.

One of the experiments lead by the U.S. team consisted of tracking down almost 1,000 people going on a popular beach in Florida. After they spent an average of 15 minutes in the sea, they would bring sea water in a pitcher, for the researchers to study it. The results showed that 37% of the water samples contained staph and 3% of them contained MRSA.

Some of the recommendations proposed by Plano included a shower before going to the beach and one before leaving the beach. She added that the results shouldn’t scare anyone if these precautionary methods are followed every time.