“We run over 22,000 boats through the park a year,” Melling said, “I have a morning crowd, a noon crowd, an afternoon and evening crowd they come for a couple hours then they leave.” It’s not uncommon for there to be 500 boats on the lake some days, Melling said. The parasite lives in shallow water, but the more boats and watercraft are stirring up the lake, the more the parasites are carried throughout the lake. And these don’t account for those who develop the itch after they leave the park or don’t report it. The park asks people experiencing swimmer’s itch to report it to park staff at the entrance station. Over the last three weeks, Melling said, she had two cases reported, then five to seven cases, and then two more just since Sunday. Water at Sand Hollow reached 80 degrees Monday, making it prime environment for the free-swimming microscopic parasite to flourish that, and the surrounding alkaline soil, Department of Natural Resources Park Manager Laura Melling said. Swimmer’s Itch is currently active at Sand Hollow Reservoir. Swimmer’s itch cannot be spread from person-to-person, and a swimmer is highly unlikely to get swimmer’s itch from a swimming pool as long as the pool is well maintained and chlorinated. And, much like poison ivy, your sensitivity to swimmer’s itch will increase with each exposure. While some people may show no symptoms of swimmer’s itch, others swimming at the same time and place may break out severely. The itching and welts are not caused by the organism living under your skin, but by an allergic reaction. Your body’s immune system detects the organism as a foreign protein, then attacks and kills it shortly after it penetrates your skin. The good news is, because these larvae cannot develop inside a human, they soon die. Swimmer’s itch is found throughout the world and is more frequent during summer months. This is where they come in contact with people and burrow into their skin, causing an allergic reaction and rash. The Centers for Disease Control describes swimmer’s itch, or “cercaria,” as a skin rash that is caused by an allergic reaction to microscopic parasites that are carried by waterfowl, semi-aquatic mammals and snails.Īs a part of their life cycle, these parasites are released by infected snails into the water. George News Facebook page J| Photo courtesy of Sonja Ceja, St. ,” Sonja Ceja wrote in a comment thread on St. “Not everyone gets the swimmers itch but my poor son did. Swimmer’s itch is not life-threatening and there are preventive measures you can take allowing you to enjoy the water. SOUTHERN UTAH – If you’re like many people, there is nothing more inviting on a hot summer day than taking a drive out to the lake and dipping into the glistening water … except for one irritating parasite in some waters that thrives and writhes when the shallows get warm, resulting in swimmer’s itch, an irritating and sometimes painful skin rash caused by microscopic parasites.
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