Kids under threat of diarrhea outbreak linked to chlorine-resistant parasite, docs warn
Talk about a splash landing.
A Kentucky water park’s pool became the unfortunate breeding ground for a mighty infection that gives painful symptoms like diarrhea, nausea, fevers, and painful cramping.
The Silver Lake water park and adventure center in Erlanger, a Cincinnati suburb, was host to the chlorine-resistant Cryptosporidiosis, abbreviated to crypto.
Johns Hopkins reports that the parasitic disease has an outer shell that keeps it alive against typical germ-killing methods in water and is “one of the most common causes of waterborne disease in the US.”
Adding insult to injury, how the masses contract vomit-inducing crypto is barf-worthy itself.
“Most people get the parasite after swallowing food or water tainted with stool. This includes swallowing water while swimming,” warns Johns Hopkins.
The Northern Kentucky Health Department recently advised that “several” victims of the regional outbreak were from the local aquatic center. In total, there are “approximately a dozen confirmed cases and numerous probable cases,” according to the agency.
Health department spokesperson Skip Tate told the Cincinnati Enquirer that those impacted range from a two-year-old to an adult.
In response, Silver Lake shut down its outdoor pool for a “super chlorination” treatment to kill off crypto for two days, the facility announced.
On social media, the park called the health drama a “sanitation event” and limited who was allowed to comment on its Facebook post.
Tate added that another person contracted it while kayaking in Ohio’s Little Miami River.
Typically, most people develop symptoms a week after contracting crypto but the incubation period is entirely between two and 10 days, according to the department.
Johns Hopkins notes that “no treatment works fully against the infection” and that good hygiene is the best preventive measure.
“If you have a healthy immune system, you will likely recover on your own. People who are in poor health or have a weak immune system may get a more serious infection.”
Those who have a bad case of diarrhea may be given medication to deal with the fierce fecal flow.
The health department also advises those who have been infected not to use public swimming areas for at least two weeks after symptoms seized.
