Pool parasite punched out
By Andrea Reeves Staff Reporter
Information on crypto
The Hamilton County Health Department is trying to track the outbreak of crypto, a fecal-borne disease caused by ingestion of fecal matter. If you were in the Powell Crosley YMCA pool after Aug. 1 and you've had diarrhea, call health officials at 347-3273 between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. seven days a week.
The best ways to avoid "crypto" is to:
Wash your hands often and thoroughly.
Thoroughly clean and cook food.
Don't swallow pool water.
Stay out of the pool for two weeks after symptoms stop if infected.
"Crypto" is usually not life-threatening. But in 1993, an estimated 403,000 residents of the greater Milwaukee, Wis., area became ill when an ineffective filtration process led to the inadequate removal of cryptosporidium in one of two municipal water treatment plants, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 4,400 persons were hospitalized and about 100 people died in the Milwaukee case.
At least eight people are ill and one is hospitalized after a recent outbreak of a fecal-borne parasite was spread at Powell Crosley YMCA pool in Springfield Township.
Though the nine cases were isolated to swimmers from Powell Crosley, hundreds of pools county-wide shut down after the Hamilton County Health Department sent out letters last Wednesday, Aug. 24, advising 320 pools to shut down for eight hours and super-chlorinate their pools to kill the cryptosporidium parasite.
More than a dozen other people are being checked out for the parasite.
The Powell Crosley pool was shut down Tuesday, Aug. 23 and chlorine levels were raised 10 times the normal level for eight hours.
Powell staff even went beyond county recommendations and wiped down every surface with a chlorine solution, according to Powell Director of Communications Barbara Hauser.
Swimmers returned to the pool the next day. "Our No. 1 priority is the health and well-bring of our members," Hauser said. "We just want to make sure our members are taken care of and feel safe."
The pool at the Clippard branch YMCA in Colerain Township had a clean inspection. Executive Director Dave Martonano said the end of summer is time for a routine refilling of pools at the branch. None of the routine maintenance at the branch is the result of problems with parasites.
"We do this maintenance at the end of summer," Hauser said. "So it's scheduled and routine."
The parasite is spread only by ingestion of fecal matter, according to Hamilton County Health Commissioner Tim Ingram. "If people are in a swimming pool and they swallow pool water, even though they're not supposed to, or if people have not washed their hands thoroughly or frequently enough they can transmit the parasite to themselves and other people, " he said.
Those infected get a bout of diarrhea, nausea, fever for about one to two weeks. Some people don't even show any symptoms at all.
"Crypto," as the disease is commonly called, is highly infectious, but it is not a serious disease for most people unless someone exposed has a weakened immune system, Ingram said. It's also more harmful for pregnant women and small children because their immune systems are compromised and they can dehydrate quickly, he said.
"It's probably the number one water-born disease in the US," Ingram said.
Chlorine levels need to be alt least 22 parts per million to kill the parasite, which is not easy to kill due to its hard shell, according to Paula Smith, public relations officer at the Hamilton County Health Department.
Seneca Lake State Park in New York is currently dealing with at least 730 people infected by "crypto." The parasite was spread at a playground filled with jets and sprinklers at the park.
From 1990 to 2000, at least 10 cryptosporidiosis outbreaks associated with contaminated drinking water were reported in the United States.
But Ingram said the area's drinking water is safe and that the outbreak is probably isolated to Powell Crosley.
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