Some germs in pool resist chlorine
By LIBBY KEELING, Health Scope
The Courier & Press
June 12, 2006
Please don't put "the P" in our "...ool."
Those words sent me into fits of giggles the first time I saw them on a strategically placed sign at the neighborhood swimming pool when I was a youngster.
But swimming hygiene and waterborne illnesses really aren't laughing matters.
Last year, nearly 4,000 people in New York contracted the gastrointestinal disease cryptosporidiosis at a state-run water park. Caused by microscopic parasites (genus Cryptosporidium), "crypto's" symptoms include diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea and vomiting.
The parasites have protective outer shells that make them chlorine-resistant and enable them to live outside the body for a long time, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the body, they typically hang out in the intestines before passing in the stool. Crypto infection occurs when a person swallows the parasites, which can be found in soil, food and water, as well as on surfaces contaminated by the infected feces of a human or animal.
OK. Now that's the other "P-word" and that's even more disgusting. Finally, I know why my mother always told me not to drink the pool water.
Crypto - also found in untreated drinking water - is able to survive in swimming pools for days. Outbreaks of waterborne disease occasionally occur in the Hoosier state, according to the Indiana Department of Health. Poorly maintained recreational water venues, chlorine-resistant germs and contaminated runoff to lakes or other bodies of water can infect unsuspecting swimmers. Crypto's symptoms usually last from one to two weeks. Young children, pregnant women, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems are at the greatest risk for more serious illness.
"Water safety is not just about safe swimming," said Lynae Granzow, a health department enteric epidemiologist. "It's about following proper hygiene, whether you're in a lake, community pool or even the backyard family pool.
The Department of Health recommends several healthy swimming behaviors:
# Don't swallow pool or lake water and avoid getting the water in your mouth.
# Don't swim if you have diarrhea. You could spread germs in the water.
# Shower before swimming, and wash your hands after visiting the bathroom or changing diapers.
# Before swimming, wash children thoroughly with soap and water.
# Take children on regular bathroom breaks and change diapers often.
# Change diapers in the bathroom, not poolside. When you're planning a summer swim outing, keep health and safety in mind, and don't forget the sunscreen.
