This might sound scary, but there’s this parasite that can live in pool water for over a week. If you swallow it, you could find yourself suffering from diarrhea for 21 days.
I was just going to hit the pool the other day when I saw this scary article! Health officials are worried that people are swallowing pool water and getting sick. It turns out that there are more and more outbreaks of infections from this one parasite that can thrive in swimming pools for up to 10 days.
The parasite is called “crypto” – short for cryptosporidium. Its hard shell keeps it safe from the chlorine in swimming pools for up to 10 days. That means if it gets in the pool and you swallow it from the water, you’ll be introducing it to your gut, where it thrives. In the gastrointestinal tract it causes diarrhea for up to 21 days. Some people get dehydrated from all the unpleasant watery stools. Their bodies just can’t absorb enough water before it comes out. Other rare symptoms include vomiting and nausea.
The infection should clear itself without any medical intervention though – but yeah it could take almost a month!
Why Are Health Officials Worried?
So you know, I was kinda freaked out that pool water isn’t safe. I mean like, all that chlorine and how it burns your eyes? I just figured, (and you did too, right?) it had to be 100 percent pathogen-free. But it isn’t. And it’s this assumption that’s got experts sending out announcements and media press releases.
What makes it worse – the number of crypto infections have doubled (or more) in some states. In Arizona, from last year, the number of outbreaks from swimming pools and water parks have increased by 200 percent. In Ohio, the number of total crypto outbreaks have increased by more than 400 percent. It’s similar for Arizona.
The health officials just wanna nip this thing in the bud. So stay safe and don’t drink the swimming pool water unless you’re in a private pool with people you know are clean (lol that sound so bad).
Recent Comments