Warning For High Levels Of Contagion Of Dangerous Fecal Parasite That Lives In Swimming Pools

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

If you enjoy swimming in the pool to escape the summer heat, watch out for a dangerous fecal parasite that lives in this water. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued an alert in the United States and Puerto Rico for an outbreak of the fecal parasite "crypto" (or Cryptosporidium) in swimming pools.

If a person has diarrhea when entering the pool and has an 'accident' in the water, they can contaminate the pool with millions of microbes such as crypto, Giardia, Shigella, norovirus and E Coli. It is easy to get contaminated if you swallow water in the pool, making children especially vulnerable.

As the CDC reports, "Most microbes die within minutes from common disinfectants used in swimming pools, such as chlorine and bromine, but cypto is a microbe that can survive for more than 7 days, even in properly chlorinated water."

Before going into the pool, CDC recommends:

-Do not let children swim if they are sick with diarrhea.

-Review the results of the last sanitary inspection of the pool.

- Do your own inspection. You can measure the levels of disinfectant (chlorine or bromine) and acidity of the water with test strips to make sure they are correct.

-The concentration of free chlorine must be at least 1 ppm in swimming pools and water parks. The bromine concentration must be at least 3 ppm in swimming pools and water parks.

-The pH of the water must be between 7.2 and 7.8

-Shower before entering the water to remove the dirt and sweat.

-Avoid swallowing water in the pool.

- Take the children to the bathroom and check their diapers frequently.

-Change diapers in the bathroom (or an area intended for changing diapers) and not next to the pool, to keep germs away from water.