A chlorine-resistant parasite could be lurking in your swimming pool this summer, CDC warns

MarketWatch ^ | 6/17/2017 | Quntin Fottrell

[RightGeek]

Be careful where you swim this summer.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a warning about a particularly nasty gastrointestinal illness that sounded like an infectious spore from the latest “Alien: Covenant” movie. The alert concerns a parasitic protozoa from the Cryptosporidium family (also known as “crypto”). It can cause “profuse, watery diarrhea that can last up to two to three weeks” and can lead to life-threatening wasting and “malabsorption” in people whose immune system is compromised.

Cryptosporidium has emerged as the leading cause of recreational water–associated outbreaks, “particularly those associated with aquatic facilities.” That includes swimming pools, water parks, water playgrounds, hot tubs and spas. More than half of 24 states that voluntarily report such data said they detected cryptosporidiosis outbreaks in 2016 at water parks or swimming pools. Since 2004, the annual incidence of “cryptosporidiosiss” has increased threefold in the U.S.

Here’s the bad news for people who like to splash around in swimming pools, particularly in the summertime. Outbreaks are due in part to the parasite’s “extreme chlorine tolerance.” Free available chlorine reduces most infectious pathogens within minutes to CDC-recommended concentrations. However, Cryptosporidium can survive for days in such chlorinated water and remains a leading cause of waterborne disease among humans in the U.S., the CDC says.

[RightGeek]

If that isn't enough, see the rest of the article about germs on airplanes and other travel locations.

[LouAvul]

No problem here. Ever since I saw Jaws I always stay out da water.

[NautiNurse]

The primary concern is if someone with diarrhea lets loose in the pool.

[GnuThere]

Gross. I don’t go there, but I think our local Y has already had this.

[KC Burke]

There are way too many people that don’t understand or care about basic hygiene.

[a fool in paradise]

Please don’t poo poo in our pool.

[a fool in paradise]

Disney had to make educational films instructing those in the third world not to take a crap in the fields to prevent illness.

[discostu]

Could be, but it isn’t. This is yet another overblown “threat” used to keep the funding going. There’s generally less than a dozen cases a year, and this year it’s up to 2 dozen. Not quite as unlikely as winning the lottery, but pretty close.

[upchuck]

Can this be caught by taking a shower? Just wondering.

[upchuck]

Your screen name is deserved. :)

[NorthMountain]

[NautiNurse]

There are different CDC recommendations for treating pool water after defecation of formed stool and diarrhea stool in swimming pools. Truth is stranger than fiction.

Very low risk for showers.

[I want the USA back]

It was bound to happen. Bacteria have been around for a long time. they know how to survive. They will survive a few billion years more.

[Orbiter]

And most don’t — instead squatting on the rail right-of-way.

[doorgunner69]

profuse, watery diarrhea

This on a day with a story about a man so constipated he had 28 lbs of shiite inside him? He needed to swim in one of these pools for a bit.

[PA Engineer]

Pools can be disinfected from Cryptosporidium with ultraviolet light or ozone filter add-ons. These units are affordable and easy to retrofit.

[Rebelbase]

[DannyTN]

There’s generally less than a dozen cases a year, and this year it’s up to 2 dozen.

Where did you get your number?

"Cryptosporidiosis, a gastrointestinal illness caused by protozoa of the genus Cryptosporidium, is a major source of human illness and was the leading cause of all waterborne outbreaks in the United States during 2001–2010 (1). An estimated 748,000 cryptosporidiosis cases occur annually (2), although less than 2% are reported (3). Hospitalizations resulting from cryptosporidiosis cost an estimated $45.8 million per year (4)."

[Pollster1]

How can protozoa (that’s a plural word, not that today’s journalists care about grammar) be resistant to chlorine? It must be bad luck that so many sanitation-related diseases are appearing at the same time as we are dealing with large numbers of illegal invaders from the third world.

[DannyTN]

There’s generally less than a dozen cases a year, and this year it’s up to 2 dozen.

Where did you get your number?

"Cryptosporidiosis, a gastrointestinal illness caused by protozoa of the genus Cryptosporidium, is a major source of human illness and was the leading cause of all waterborne outbreaks in the United States during 2001–2010 (1). An estimated 748,000 cryptosporidiosis cases occur annually (2), although less than 2% are reported (3). Hospitalizations resulting from cryptosporidiosis cost an estimated $45.8 million per year (4)."