Excitingspas

Cryptosporidium parvum is a parasite excreted in the faeces of infected humans, cattle, and other mammals. The infectious form of the parasite (the "oocyst") is too small to be seen without a microscope. It is usually between 4-6 microns, and is highly resistant to the levels of chlorine normally found in swimming pools. Infection with Cryptosporidium, known as cryptosporidiosis, often causes a profuse and watery diarrhoea that is frequently accompanied by abdominal cramping. Fatigue, fever, loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting are other signs and symptoms of cryptosporidiosis, which begin an average of about 7 days after oocysts are swallowed (range 1 to 14 days). A person with a normal, healthy immune system can expect symptoms to last for 2 weeks or less. People with weakened immune systems (those with HIV/AIDS, on cancer chemotherapy, or those receiving organ transplants) will have cryptosporidiosis for a longer period of time, and it could become life-threatening.

The infection occurs after accidental swallowing of Cryptosporidium oocysts in contaminated pool water, by drinking contaminated tap water, eating or drinking contaminated food products or through direct contact with faeces (e.g., changing nappies of an infected child or contact with faeces of an infected animal). In the summer of 1998, Australian Health Departments detected several outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis at swimming pools where hundreds of people became ill after swallowing contaminated pool water. It is believed that these reported infections were only a small proportion of those that occurred and many were not reported. These types of outbreaks will be more frequently recognised in the future.