Woman Swimming in the Ottawa River Now Has Parasites
Gord McDougall, CFRA - Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Read below for Riverkeeper’s comments
CFRA News has learned that an Ottawa woman who swam in the Ottawa River Tuesday afternoon has been informed by a doctor that she picked up parasites in the river.
Mary Cox was swimming at a private beach just east of Andrew Haydon Park when she started to feel itchy, and when she got out of the water, she noticed tiny red marks all over her body.
When they turned to blisters, she went to the E.R. and a doctor there told her she had parasites.
Cox says she wouldn’t wish this on anybody, telling CFRA news “I’ve been up all night, because they are so itchy, and I’ve been putting on all kinds of topical ointments trying to control the itching, but they’re just getting bigger and bigger.”
”(The welts) were really small,” Cox says, “and today, they’re large and they’re continuing to pop up all over the place.”
She says she can feel them coming on. She can look at a smooth part of her arm where she feels the irritation and watch as the skin erupts.
Cox worries that children might be particularly vulnerable to this parasite. The doctor gave her antibiotics, but they haven’t done her any good yet.
Since CFRA news first broadcast this story, one other person has come forward with concerns, because her children appear to have similar symptoms.
CFRARIVERKEEPER’S COMMENTS
Do not be alarmed by this news story. This parasite is commonly known as swimmers itch and there are no human health risks to be concerned about. An infected person will suffer from itchy “mosquito bite” like sores that will last from 2 days to one week. I grew up on Trout Lake, the headwaters of the Mattawa River and our family is very familiar with swimmers itch. It is not in the water every day and some people are much more susceptible. Children often get it worse because they play in shallow waters for long periods of time. Swimmers itch is common in lakes around the Outaouais and if you swim in Meech Lake or Lac Phillipe you will often see warning signs posted at the beach on days the itch has been reported in the water. If you get swimmers itch I recommend plenty of Calamine lotion and an antihistamine to relieve the itch. To prevent the itch I recommend putting a generous layer of vaseline or mineral oil on your skin and avoiding shallow water as much as possible.
For more information on swimmers itch:
wikipedia
factsheet
bchealthguide
brochure from Edmonton Public Health Service
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