PARIS, France -- As more and more young families are taking their infants along on warm-weather, holiday trips to tropical locations, resorts have had to make adjustments to accommodate the tikes while protecting other guests. In particular, changes are being made to swimming pool access.

At issue is Escherichia coli, commonly known as E. coli. While most variations of E. coli are harmless, strains of this bacterium, transmitted through fecal-oral contamination, can cause serious disease. According to Dr. Lloyd Nelson, of the International Swimming Pool Maintenance Association, "There is no greater incubator for E. coli than a warm swimming pool. Indeed," says Nelson, "even with a high concentration of chlorine, introducing two babies into a 100,000 gallon swimming pool can quickly turn the pool water into a kind of 'fecal soup.'" 

La Couvier Hotels, S.O., which operates resorts around the world, is on the forefront of building special pools designated just for infants. When contacted by Err Travel, Nelson Blankendorf, Chief Environmental Officer for the hotel chain said, "As far as warm-weather resort hazards go, marauding schools of sharks and ocean undertows were nothing compared to the danger of taking a dip in our main pool. We tried to put in place a policy of requiring infants to wear 'swim diapers' but found that swim diapers were about as effective as gabardine condoms."

As resorts move to build more pools, the swimming pool construction business, which has suffered in recent years, is turning around. For example, Peter Cess, whose family has been in the resort swimming pool construction business since 1963, said, "The past couple of years have been our best years ever. In fact Cess Pools has doubled its workforce to keep up with the demand.”