Precautionary practices can keep you healthy from pool illnesses
June 6, 2006
49ABCNews.com (KS)
Craig Gold
Our City's Pools are "just what the doctor ordered" in summer heat, but sometimes, trips to the pool can lead to a trip to the doctor shortly after.
Health officials said water is a breeding ground for certain illnesses.
"Some of the diseases that people can contract include Giardia, Cryptosporidium, and Shigella," said Mike Heideman, Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
For many, those would be stomach bugs. They're most frequently contracted from swallowing contaminated water.
"The symptoms of these can include diarrhea and just the overall feeling of being ill," Heideman said.
But certain precautions before taking a dip will keep the likelihood of contaminating the water to begin with at a minimum. Things like showering before entering the pool and also for the kids, having the right swimming attire is important as lifeguards at the Blaisdell Pool in Topeka will tell you.
"We ask that they do wear tight fitting rubber pants just to control problems that we do have, accidents in the pool," said Niki Zerr, lifeguard.
Accidents do happen and when they do...
"We'll close down for up to 30 minutes and then let the people back in," Zerr said. "If it's too severe, then we do close the pool for the remainder of the day for safety precautionary reasons and then super-chlorinate it overnight."
But the experts will tell you, your biggest line of defense when swimming is trying not to swallow the water since some of these diseases can be chlorine resistant.
