Aerobic bacteria in holy water from Catholic churches in Slovenia

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Holy water plays an important role in various religions. It is used for baptisms, to bless people, places and objects. In Catholic churches, it is usually offered in the holy water fonts at the entrance of the church. But it is also considered a source of potential pathogens, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumanii and enterobacteria. To estimate the potential risk, we studied the composition and antimicrobial resistance of bacteria in holy water from fonts and reservoirs of ten selected Catholic churches in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Bacterial contamination of holy water from fonts was moderate (102 - 105 CFU ml-1), but one to two orders of magnitude higher than in reservoirs, probably due to frequent immersion of fingers in the water. Some genera/species occurred only in fonts (Acinetobacter beijerinckii, A. haemolyticus, Brevundimonas aurantiaca, B. mediterranea, Delftia, Kocuria, Sphingobacterium, Staphylococcus warneri), while few fecal indicator bacteria were isolated. Isolated bacteria have relatively low pathogenic potential, some of them are skin commensals. Bacterial strains isolated in this study were susceptible to antibiotics.While according to our results, the potential of holy water for spreading bacterial infections is modest, to further limit the risks, water should be changed regularly, the fonts cleaned thoroughly, and the water should not be brought in contact with the eyes, ingested or aerosolized and inhaled.