Showing posts with label swimming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label swimming. Show all posts

Monday, August 15, 2011

Use Caution When Swimming.

A rare infection associated with a type of amoeba that lives in stagnant water and travels up the sinuses and infects the brain, almost always causing meningitis, has been reported in a Virginia person.

The free-living amoeba Naegleria fowleri proliferates in stagnant freshwater lakes, ponds, streams and rivers when temperatures climb into the 80s, health officials said in an advisory issued Saturday about safe swimming practices.

"Sadly, we have had a Naegleria infection in Virginia this summer," said Dr. Keri Hall, state epidemiologist at the Virginia Department of Health, in a statement.

"It's important that people be aware of … safe swimming messages," Hall said.

Naegleria fowleri, sometimes called a "brain-eating amoeba," travels up the nose to the brain where it destroys the brain tissue.

For privacy reasons, the health department does not disclose details on individual cases but, this month, officials confirmed a case of meningitis in a person in the Central Health Region of Virginia, which includes the Richmond area.

The aunt of a 9-year-old Henrico County boy who died Aug. 5 from meningitis said waterborne-illness was mentioned as a possible cause of the illness.

"The doctor described it to us as such a slight chance that they didn't even think it would be possible," said Bonnie Strickland, aunt of Christian Alexander Strickland.

The week before Christian died from meningitis, he was his usual active self and had attended a fishing camp, his aunt said.

In general, meningitis can be caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites, Hall said last week.

Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord.

Only 32 Naegleria fowleri infections were reported in the U.S. from 2001 to 2010 and, before this summer, the most recent case in Virginia was in 1969, state health officials said.

Symptoms of infection may not begin until a week or more after swimming.

To avoid waterborne illness or contaminating swimming waters, health officials advise:
  • Don't swim when you have diarrhea.
  • Don't swallow pool, lake, pond or river water.
  • Practice good hygiene. Shower with soap before and after swimming.
  • Wash your hands thoroughly after using the restroom or changing diapers.
  • Take children on bathroom breaks or change diapers often.
  • Change diapers in a bathroom, not at poolside or beachside.
  • Avoid swimming, diving or other activities in obviously stagnant freshwater bodies when temperatures are high and water levels are low.
  • Hold your nose or wear nose plugs when underwater or when diving or swimming in hot, shallow freshwater bodies.
Source; http://www2.timesdispatch.com/lifestyles/news/2011/aug/13/3/state-reports-rare-water-borne-illness-ar-1236776/

Friday, August 13, 2010

Take Precautions/Use Common Sense When Swimming In the Chesapeake Bay

High temperatures and pollution have made conditions ripe for a potentially dangerous bacteria carried in Chesapeake Bay waters, leading state and local health officials to warn swimmers, fishermen and shellfish eaters to take precautions.

The naturally occurring bacteria, vibrio, can cause gastrointestinal illness as well as nasty skin infections — and sometimes can kill. So far this year, 24 Maryland cases of vibrio have been recorded, close to the average annual count of 30, but the season is far from over and officials say many cases likely go unreported.

"It's a summertime event in the sense that the organism lives in brackish water and really multiplies in the water when it gets hot," said Frances Phillips, Maryland's deputy secretary of public health services. "As expected, we're seeing an increasing number of cases."
Vibrio enters the body through cuts in a swimmer's skin or when undercooked shellfish is eaten. It's a problem every year in the bay and area rivers, but public health officials worry that this year could be worse.

Officials say swimmers and fishermen should avoid ingesting water from the bay and its tributaries, and should stay out of the water if they have an open wound. Parents should check their children for cuts and scrapes, and should wash them immediately with soap if the water gets near the wound.

Consumers, meanwhile, should make sure their shellfish is thoroughly cooked, and not eat raw shellfish such as oysters. It's not oyster season on the bay, but imported oysters could also be infected with vibrio.

Visitors to Gunpowder State Park in northern Baltimore County said Thursday that they had not heard about the warnings. But some took precautions anyway because they assumed there was some bacteria in the water.

"We always wash off when we get home," said Angela Neff of Perry Hall, who was swimming with her husband, Tom, her two children and three nieces and nephews. "We always think about what may be in the water, but we're not worried enough about it not to swim."

Sonia Austin of Northeast Baltimore said she checked the park website for warnings before bringing her 3-year-old grandson, Khalil Lawson, to swim. She said she didn't see any current advisories. After hearing about the alert, she still felt that the water was safe enough.

"He is having a ball," she said of Khalil. "I'll just keep an eye on him."

Health officials said they were not trying to discourage swimming by healthy people, who generally recover from an infection.

But vibrio can be deadly for people with compromised immune systems, including those with cancer and diabetes. They should avoid the water.

There have been no Maryland deaths this year attributed to vibrio infections, according to state data, but there have been seven deaths since 2007 and 66 hospitalizations. Eight people have been hospitalized this year.

Anyone with symptoms should seek medical attention, health officials said. They usually surface in a day or two and include watery diarrhea with abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, fever and skin lesions.

Some local health offices plan to put warning signs at local beaches, including those in Calvert County, where a handful of cases have drawn media attention.

Dr. David Rogers, Calvert County Health Officer, said there have been four infections locally — three from contact with water from the bay and area rivers, and one from ingesting vibrio. He said he didn't consider that a lot of cases, but he issued an alert because the infections got some media attention after the Patuxent Waterkeeper, an environmental group, sought to alert the public to the dangers.

Rogers did not identify those infected, but they included a man who had fallen on a dock and cut himself before coming in contact with the water and a 10-year-old girl who got an ear infection.

"These are potentially very serious infections," he said. "If you get an area with redness, swelling and pus, it needs to be properly treated. In general, though, I don't consider this an alarming public health situation."

State health officials say that the official count of vibrio cases has not risen much in recent years — there were 29 in 2004 and 33 in 2009. But Phillips acknowledges that many people probably don't see a doctor or the doctor doesn't test for vibrio or report the findings to state health officials, as required by law.

Nationally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that there are about 4,500 reported cases annually, but the agency also says that cases are underreported.

A 2009 Chesapeake Bay Foundation report on water quality found vibrio and other contaminants in the bay waters becoming an increasing problem. Normally associated with warmer waters such as the Gulf of Mexico, vibrio has become more common in the bay as the world's waters have warmed. In the last year or so, it has even been found in Alaska.

Contributing to that report was Rita Colwell, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and University of Maryland, College Park, who has studied vibrio for decades.

In an interview, she said the bacteria thrives because the salty waters are warming and because runoff polluted with nutrients is fueling growth of plankton, which feeds critters that host vibrio. In dense concentrations, the vibrio make people sick.

If the waters continue to warm and pollution increases, the bacteria will remain out of balance and cases will tick up, she said.

"I don't anticipate a large outbreak," she said. "But people need to take precautions, use common sense."
www.thebaltimoresun.com

Saturday, July 10, 2010

A Bumper Crop of Jellyfish This Season


Silent, graceful and luminescent, jellyfish are among the most disliked inhabitants of the Chesapeake Bay.

The scorn is not without warrant; they do, after all, sting the bejesus out of unsuspecting beachgoers, especially now as temperatures rise in the bay's brackish waters.

But take some time to consider jellyfish, said Deborah Steinberg, a professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in Gloucester Point, and those hard feelings may drift away.

Unlike other feared marine predators, such as sharks, jellyfish travel where currents take them. Sometimes this is far from shore, other times its near docks, beaches and other summertime destinations.

Although eyeless, jellyfish can detect light. Combined with a limited sense of chemicals and touch, this is what they use for guidance. There is little, if any, evidence to suggest the bay's jellyfish seek human flesh.

By and large, jellyfish sting to protect themselves from perceived threats, Steinberg said.

"It's mostly by accident," she said. "They're thinking, 'Whoa, what is that? I need to defend myself.'"

Known for producing painful, burning welts, the sting is essentially a poisened dart fired from the jellyfish's trailing arms. Jellyfish use the poison, actually a protein, to paralyze their prey, which consists of small fish, shrimp and other jellyfish.

Like mosquitoes, the weather plays a large role in determining how many will appear in the bay. Hot and dry conditions, such as those last month, make the water warm and salty — an ideal combination for jellyfish growth.

Yet the number of reported stings, at least in Gloucester and Yorktown, is down from last year, according to representatives from each locality. York County treated 83 people on July 4, a 52 percent decline from last year.

Most jellyfish will disappear near summer's end, when they die or retreat under water to reproduce. There is a winter species, but it doesn't sting.

When jellyfish sting

Three types of jellyfish make their home in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. The most common, known as the sea nettle, is reviled for stinging beachgoers.

If stung, wash the affected area and apply vinegar to it. If there is no vinegar, try rubbing sand on it. If pain continues, take an aspiran or seek medical attention.

http://www.dailypress.com/

NOTE: In all my years of swimming with kids and tending jellyfish stings I found that wet sand would work and so did Adolph's Meat Tenderizer.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

4-H Camp Registration ~ Deadline July 2, 2010

Accomack County 4-H Junior Camp will be held July 19th through the 23rd at Airfield 4-H Center in Wakefield, VA. The cost is $248 which includes the camp fee, lodging, meals, transportation via charter bus to and from camp and a camp t-shirt.

Children ages 9-13 may attend. Campers must be 9 years old by September 30th. Campers will have the opportunity to participate in classes such as swimming, canoeing, leather craft, riflery, theatrical arts, journalism, archery, fishing, robotics, cooking, animal science and new this year CSI detective.

Registration forms are available at the Accomack County Extension Office located at 23203 Front Street, Accomac between the hours of 8:30 AM and 5:00 PM Monday through Friday or you may call 787-1361 to have one mailed to you.

The last day to register for camp is Friday, July 2nd. Full payment of $248 is due upon registration.

www.shoredailynews.com