Risk Analysis of Otitis Externa (Swimmer’s Ear) in Children Pool Swimmers: A Case Study from Greece

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear authors,

Your manuscript on risk analysis of otitis externa (swimmer’s ear) in children pool swimmers is an interesting paper, but it has some shortcomings from the beginning. The title itself lacks the country of origin of the authors.

In addition, the use of references in the text is inconsistent and does not follow the instructions. The references must follow the instructions of the journal.

The use of units of measurement must also be consistent, designations for l and L, ml and mL, designations for degrees Celsius in line 99, etc.

Spelling of names of bacteria must follow the rules for their spelling, e.g., P. aeruginosa and P. aeruginosa.

Special comments.

Figure 1, there is not a single sentence in the text explaining the picture?

The labelling of the pools in which the study was performed must be the same, SP1 in 3.1 Sampling or Pool1 in Table1?

Check the blanks in the text, e.g. in lines 253 and 257.

It is unfortunate that the authors do not discuss more about the incidence of otitis in relation to microbiological indicators of water quality. Instead, the focus is on social research and questionnaire completion.

Regarding water quality indicators, according to all the regulations cited by the authors, were these pools allowed to be used for bathing, especially for bathing children? this part of the research could and should be explained and discussed more.

Author Response

Your manuscript on risk analysis of otitis externa (swimmer’s ear) in children pool swimmers is an interesting paper, but it has some shortcomings from the beginning. The title itself lacks the country of origin of the authors.

Changes are pointed out in ms

In addition, the use of references in the text is inconsistent and does not follow the instructions. The references must follow the instructions of the journal.

Changes are pointed out in ms

The use of units of measurement must also be consistent, designations for l and L, ml and mL, designations for degrees Celsius in line 99, etc.

Changes are pointed out in ms

Spelling of names of bacteria must follow the rules for their spelling, e.g., P. aeruginosa and P. aeruginosa.

Changes are pointed out in ms

Special comments.

Figure 1, there is not a single sentence in the text explaining the picture?

Changes are pointed out in ms

The labelling of the pools in which the study was performed must be the same, SP1 in 3.1 Sampling or Pool1 in Table1?

Changes are pointed out in ms

Check the blanks in the text, e.g. in lines 253 and 257.

It is unfortunate that the authors do not discuss more about the incidence of otitis in relation to microbiological indicators of water quality. Instead, the focus is on social research and questionnaire completion.

Changes are pointed out in ms

Regarding water quality indicators, according to all the regulations cited by the authors, were these pools allowed to be used for bathing, especially for bathing children? this part of the research could and should be explained and discussed more.

Changes are pointed out in ms

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

It seems that the statistical data from the survey are not relevant to the topic in question: eg. Foreign bodies , Family income,  Educational level. Please delete this information.
Table 1 - No units
In the results part - the results of microbiological tests, only average values are given. There are no references to the values permitted by law.
Line 113-121 - concerns Greek regulations - this is not a methodology. These issues should be included in the discussion part. The results obtained in microbiological research should be related to these Greek regulations.

It seems that the statistical data from the survey are not relevant to the topic in question: eg.  , citizenship, Family income,  Educational level, parents' educational level. What is it: Foreign bodies. Please explain. Please explain why this information is in the context of the discussed issue.

Author Response

It seems that the statistical data from the survey are not relevant to the topic in question: eg. Foreign bodies , Family income,  Educational level. Please delete this information.

Socioeconomical indicators such as educational level and family income are usually included in epidemiological studies.

Table 1 - No units

Changes are pointed out in ms

In the results part - the results of microbiological tests, only average values are given. There are no references to the values permitted by law.
Line 113-121 - concerns Greek regulations - this is not a methodology. These issues should be included in the discussion part. The results obtained in microbiological research should be related to these Greek regulations.

Changes are pointed out in ms

It seems that the statistical data from the survey are not relevant to the topic in question: eg.  , citizenship, Family income,  Educational level, parents' educational level.

What is it: Foreign bodies. Please explain. Please explain why this information is in the context of the discussed issue.

Foreign bodies in the ear, nose and throat are a common occurrence in children, therefore we decided to include this factor in our study.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

However, thanks to the authors' efforts to improve their first version of the manuscript, some things seem to remain unclear, i.e. the authors did not understand the suggestions.

Affiliation, 1 Department of Public Health, Medical School, University of Patras, 26504 Patras,

Patras is your country or maybe Greece?

In the corrected part of the discussion, where references are given in parentheses, a space is missing in relation to the text. Also, the use of references is not correct regarding instructions:

In the text, reference numbers should be placed in square brackets [], and placed before the punctuation; for example [1], [1-3], or [1,3]. For embedded citations in the text with pagination, use both parentheses and brackets to indicate the reference number and page numbers; for example, [5] (p. 10). or [6] (pp. 101-105).

Please be kind enough to use the references as stated in the instructions for authors.