Health and sanitation
25
Is cryptosporidia lurking
at your public pool?
By Mike Flenniken at IAPMO
Going to a water park, community pool, or other public aquatic
facility this summer? Make sure not to swallow any water.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
recently released a study that found the number of
outbreaks of cryptosporidium — a parasite that can
be spread when people swallow even just a mouthful
of water that has been contaminated by someone
suffering from diarrhoea — had doubled from 2014
to 2016. •
According to the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly
Report, at least 32 crypto outbreaks were reported
in 2016, compared to 16 in 2014. The report said it
was unclear whether to attribute the increase to more
outbreaks or better detection as a result of improved
surveillance and laboratory methods. “I think oftentimes we underestimate how complex it
is to run an aquatic venue with all the chemicals that
need to go in, all the equipment that’s used, and all
the things that are going around continuously,”
she said, “and how one thing can change another
parameter, and everything needs to be adjusted
accordingly. It’s pretty complex.”
“The way we’re diagnosing cryptosporidiosis now has
changed, and perhaps we’re picking up more cases than
we would have before,” said Michele Hlavsa, chief of the
CDC’s Health Swimming Programme. “Therefore, because
we’re picking up more cases in it and then interviewing
more patients, we’re making connections between the
patients better and picking up more outbreaks.”
Hlavsa, who has an infant and a two-year-old son, said
they go swimming every weekend. She makes sure he
takes a shower beforehand and constantly reminds him
not to drink the water.
“It is tough, but our message to parents is stick with
it, and for example not to bring toys into the pool that
encourage drinking the water,” she said. “It’s not about
not swimming; that’s definitely not the message of these
reports, whether it’s the inspection data or the outbreaks.
It’s about being smarter and healthier when we do it.”
The CDC recommends taking the following precautions
to help protect yourself and others from germs that
cause diarrhoea:
• Don’t swim or let your kids swim if sick from
diarrhoea.
» » If diarrhoea is caused by crypto, wait until
two weeks after diarrhea has stopped to go
swimming.
• Don’t swallow the water in which you swim.
• Rinse off in the shower before getting into the water
to help remove any germs on your body that could
contaminate the water.
www.plumbingafrica.co.za
Take kids on bathroom breaks often, and check
diapers in a diaper-changing area — not right next
to the pool.
As for what facilities can do to mitigate the threat of
an outbreak, Hlavsa said the CDC recommends that
operators get training.
Russ Chaney
In the spirit of the sharing
of unique experiences
that shape the plumbing
industries in our respective
nations, the following article
looks at cryptosporidia and
preventative measures.
Training the operators is important, she said, but there
also needs to be a focus on making sure crypto isn’t
introduced to the water.
“Swimmers are bringing the cryptosporidium into the
water, so it’s about keeping it out of the water in the first
place,” she said, “telling them about not swimming or
letting kids swim if they’re sick with diarrhoea; about not
swallowing the water.”
Hlavsa said facility operators need to work with
public health inspectors to learn what is going on
in the community. The inspector will likely know of
any outbreaks, she said, so it’s important to step up
precautionary measures if there is an outbreak.
“It’s about engaging all the stakeholders,” she said. “Our
main stakeholders in healthy swimming are public health,
the aquatic sector, and swimmers, and it’s all three of
us working together that are going to prevent these
outbreaks from happening.”
Hlavsa equated taking such steps with the need to use seat
belts in a car and wearing a helmet when on a bicycle.
“This is about being smarter about swimming so
you can enjoy the summer with your family,” she
said. “Cryptosporidium, the parasite that causes
cryptosporidiosis, can cause diarrhoea that lasts up to two
to three weeks. That’s a long time, and nobody wants to
spend their summer like that.” PA
Training is
important, but
there also needs
to be a focus on
ensuring crypto
isn’t introduced
to the water.
September 2017 Volume 23 I Number 7