Mother Finds Crypto A Tricky Disease
ChannelCincinnati.com
October 13, 2005
CLERMONT COUNTY, Ohio -- A parasite that was originally found in Tri-State pools has spread into day-care centers, News 5's Juliette Vara reported.
Susan Micky, of Clermont County, said her 3-year-old daughter suffered for two weeks with the common symptoms of cryptosporidium.
"She had a lot of cramping," Micky said. "She would hold her stomach and wake up in the middle of the night, running to the bathroom."
Christina is feeling better thanks to medication, but Mickey said she was worried about what would happen to her girl.
"I was worried she'd get dehydrated, because every time she drank something, it would run right out of her," she said.
Day-care centers suggest that parents keep children at home for three days after they've stopped having signs of diarrhea, but Christina's symptoms were deceiving -- she stopped having them for five days. Her parents just though she'd had a stomach flu.
"You think that five days -- no diarrhea, no vomiting, normal stool -- you think they're fine," Micky said. "But my daughter is an example that it can be asymptomatic for a while."
Health officials told Vara that every child is different.
"The three days is not a magic time frame," one doctor said.
In most cases though, being symptom-free for three days is a good sign that a child doesn't have crypto. But Micky warned other parents to be extra cautious.
"I want mothers and fathers to know, if they have severe diarrhea, even if they get better, it's so easy to get stool sample and just know," she said.
