Awareness of Microbiological Safety in Playgrounds Amid Rising Antibiotic Resistance

Playgrounds are a common feature in modern cities. Although guidelines addressing safety requirements for playground equipment have been established worldwide, none include recommendations concerning microbiological safety. Given the potential public health implications, there is a growing need to develop strategies for mitigating the risk of exposure to antibiotic-resistant pathogens in playgrounds. The objective of this paper is to present the current state of knowledge through a systematic review of the literature, regarding microbiological safety in urban playgrounds, including an overview of the most commonly used research methodologies, the types of pathogens identified, the extent of antimicrobial resistance, and geographic differences. The review revealed significant gaps in knowledge on this topic: targeted empirical studies have been conducted relatively infrequently and only in a few countries worldwide. Even less frequently has the issue of antibiotic resistance in playground-isolated bacteria been addressed. At the same time, antibiotic-resistant strains represent an increasingly significant global public health concern, underscoring the need to develop global strategies to better protect playgrounds from resistant pathogens. Based on the findings, we present and discuss various factors that may influence microbiological safety in playgrounds, as well as strategies that can be implemented to address this critical issue.