Public health unit conducts contact tracing amid parasite gastro outbreak
A number of people with a gastro caused by a parasite, which recently shut local pools, have presented to emergency departments amid rising cases in Geelong.
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A number of people with a gastro caused by a parasite, which recently shut local pools, have presented to emergency departments amid rising cases in Geelong.
Cryptosporidiosis is a type of gastroenteritis caused by the parasite cryptosporidium.
Pools at Leisurelink in Waurn Ponds recently temporarily closed due to people with the parasite attending.
Barwon South West public health unit director Eugene Athan said its health protection team had seen a rise in cryptosporidium cases across the region recently, and has been working with the health department to protect the community.
“Several people with cryptosporidiosis have presented to emergency departments with a very small number of people admitted to hospital,” Prof Athan said.
It’s understood the public health unit is conducting contact tracing.
Typical symptoms include watery diarrhoea, stomach cramps, bloating, vomiting and fever.
Symptoms can take between one and 12 days to develop after infection.
Victoria’s chief health officer Dr Clare Looker warned there had been an increase in cases in the state, and some cases had become infected after using public swimming pools.
“Public health investigations have found people are attending pools while they are infectious,” her alert said.
“There has been an increase in cryptosporidiosis cases in Victoria since the beginning of September 2023, with some cases linked to swimming in public pools.
“Several European countries and New Zealand have also reported a recent increase in the number of cases.”
People can get infected by eating contaminated food or drinking contaminated water, or the parasites can be spread from person to person or animal to person.
Cryptosporidium could be spread through pool water because it was very resistant to routine chlorine disinfection, meaning that it could survive in pools and make other swimmers ill, Prof Athan said.
Prof Athan said in some situations, such as if multiple people with cryptosporidiosis attended the same swimming pool, public health authorities may determine that the pool needed to temporarily close to undergo a more intensive chlorination procedure, as a precautionary measure.
Dr Looker warned people not to swim if they had diarrhoea in the past 14 days.
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