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                     Summer Safety Tips  

The first steps in keeping your kids safe when swimming are adult supervision and an age appropriate flotation device.

Because of the increase over the past decade in the number of outbreaks of illness associated with swimming, you should also be aware of the spread of recreational water illnesses (RWIs) and how to prevent them.

Healthy Swimming behaviors are needed to protect you and your kids from RWIs and will help stop germs from getting in the pool in the first place.

Here are six "PLEAs" that promote Healthy Swimming:

Three "PLEAs" For All Swimmers

Please don't swim when you have diarrhea... this is especially important for kids in diapers. You can spread the germs into the water and make other people sick.

Please don't swallow the pool water. In fact, try your best to avoid even having water get in your mouth.

Please practice good hygiene. Take a shower before swimming and wash your hands after using the toilets or changing diapers. Germs on your body end up in the water.

Three "PLEAs" For Parents with Young Kids

Follow these "PLEAs" to protect your child and others from getting sick and to help keep RWIs out of your community:

Please take your kids on bathroom breaks or check diapers often. Waiting to hear "I have to go" may mean that it's too late.

Please change diapers in a bathroom and not at poolside. Germs can spread to surfaces and objects in and around the pool and spread illness.

Please wash your child thoroughly (especially the rear end) with soap and water before swimming. We all have invisible amounts of fecal matter on our bottoms that end up in the pool.

What are recreational water illnesses (RWIs)?

RWIs are illnesses that are spread by swallowing, breathing, or having contact with contaminated water from swimming pools, spas, lakes, rivers, or oceans. Recreational water illnesses can cause a wide variety of symptoms, including skin, ear, respiratory, eye, and wound infections. The most commonly reported RWI is diarrhea. Diarrheal illnesses can be caused by germs such as Crypto, short for Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Shigella, and E. coli O157:H7.

How are RWIs spread?

Keep in mind that you share the water with everyone else in the pool, lake, or ocean.

Diarrheal Illnesses

If swimmers are ill with diarrhea, the germs that they carry can contaminate the water if they have an "accident" in the pool. On average people have about 0.14 grams of feces on their bottoms which, when rinsed off, can contaminate recreational water. When people are ill with diarrhea, their stool can contain millions of germs. Therefore, swimming when ill with diarrhea can easily contaminate large pools or waterparks.

In addition, lakes, rivers, and the ocean can be contaminated by sewage spills, animal waste and water runoff following rainfall. Some common germs can also live for long periods of time in salt water.

So, if someone swallows water that has been contaminated with feces, he/she may become sick. Many of these diarrhea-causing germs do not have to be swallowed in large amounts to cause illness.

Other RWIs

Many other RWIs (eye, skin, ear , and respiratory infections) are caused by germs that live naturally in the environment (water, soil). In the pool or hot tub, if disinfectant is not maintained at the appropriate levels, these germs can increase to the point where they can cause illness when swimmers breathe or have contact with water containing these germs.

Why doesn't chlorine kill these RWI germs?

Chlorine in swimming pools does kill the germs that may make people sick, but it takes time. Chlorine in properly disinfected pools kills most germs that can cause RWIs in less than an hour. Chlorine takes longer to kill some germs such as Crypto, which can survive for days in even a properly disinfected pool. This means that without your help, illness can spread even in well-maintained pools.

Healthy swimming behaviors are needed to protect you and your family from RWIs and will help stop germs from getting in the pool.

Where are RWIs found?

In addition to swimming pools, swimming in contaminated hot tubs, oceans, lakes, rivers, and playing in decorative water fountains can also spread RWIs.

Hot tubs
Skin infections like "hot tub rash" are the most common RWIs spread through hot tubs and spas. Chlorine and other disinfectant levels evaporate more quickly because of the higher temperature of the water in the tubs. It is important to check disinfectant levels even more regularly than in swimming pools. "Hot tub rash" can also occur in pools and at the lake or beach.

Decorative Water Fountains
Not all decorative or interactive fountains are chlorinated or filtered. Therefore, when people, especially diaper-aged children, play in the water, they can contaminate the water with fecal matter. Swallowing this contaminated water can then cause diarrheal illness.

Lakes, Rivers, and Oceans
Lakes, rivers, and oceans can become contaminated with germs from sewage, animal waste, water runoff following rainfall, fecal accidents, and germs rinsed off the bottoms of swimmers. It is important to avoid swallowing the water because natural recreational water is not disinfected. Avoid swimming after rainfalls or in areas identified as unsafe by health departments. Contact your state or local health department for results of water testing in your area or go to EPA's beach site or their National Health Protection Survey of Beaches .

Who is most likely to get ill from an RWI?

Children, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems (such as those living with AIDS, those who have received an organ transplant, or those receiving certain types of chemotherapy) can suffer from more severe illness if infected. People with compromised immune systems should be aware that recreational water might be contaminated with human or animal waste that contains Cryptosporidium (or Crypto), which can be life threatening in persons with weakened immune systems. People with a compromised immune system should consult their health care provider before participating in behaviors that place them at risk for illness.

                       

What is Asthma?: How can you tell if your child may have it?

You hear what sounds like a whistle when your child exhales. Or perhaps he or she seems to get easily tired when playing soccer. Maybe there’s just a persistent cough. But you wonder — could this be asthma? While asthma is a term often heard, it is frequently misunderstood.

Asthma is, unfortunately, all too common. In fact, asthma is the most common chronic disorder in children and adolescents, affecting nearly five million children under the age of 18, including an estimated 1.3 million children under the age of five. Fifty to 80% of children affected with asthma develop symptoms before they are five years old.

Because asthma affects the ability to breathe and to oxygenate the blood, it is a very serious disease. But it is a disease that can be well managed. With proper diagnosis, an action plan, and guidance from parents and caregivers, children with asthma can lead lives very similar to those of their non-asthmatic friends. Education and commitment are key.

What is asthma?
Asthma is a chronic, inflammatory disorder of the airways. That means, the tubes that bring air to the lungs are constantly swollen and inflamed. This swelling makes it more difficulty for air to move freely in and out. Those airways are also sensitive to certain triggers, and these triggers can differ from person to person. Many children with asthma have what is termed "allergic asthma", that means allergens worsen their symptoms. For these children, exposure to allergens such as dust mites, mold, animal dander and cockroaches can further irritate their "twitchy" airways causing even more constriction, the production of excess mucus and a tightening of the muscles that surround the airways.

How can you tell if your child has asthma?
Asthma can be a tricky disease to pinpoint for a number of reasons, including the fact that there are other respiratory ailments with overlapping symptoms, and some children can seem symptom free for long-periods of time but then experience intermittent asthma "attacks."

Watch for symptoms that can clue you in to seek the advice of a physician. These include:

  • Coughing. This could be constant or just intermittent. Not all children who have the disease exhibit symptoms each and every day.
  • Wheezing or a whistling sounds audible when your child exhales.
  • Shortness of breath or rapid breathing. This may or may not be associated with exercise.
  • Chest tightness.

Other symptoms can include:

  • Fatigue—your child may slow down, stop playing or become easily irritated.
  • A young child may say his chest "hurts" or "feels funny."
  • Infants may have problems feeding and may grunt during suckling.
  • Older children may avoid activities such as sports or sleepovers.
  • A child may have problems sleeping because of nighttime coughing or difficulty breathing.

Who develops asthma?
While there are no clear markers to predict who will develop asthma and who won’t, studies have shown that factors associated with the onset of asthma symptoms in children include:
  • Infants and young children who wheeze with viral upper respiratory infections.
  • Allergy. The relationship between asthma and allergies is very strong. If your child has allergies, be on the alert for potential signs of childhood asthma.
  • A family history of asthma and/or allergy.
  • Perinatal exposure to tobacco smoke and allergens

No two people have exactly the same asthma symptoms or outcomes. It’s a very individualized disease. The bottom line is to watch your child and listen to their observations. If you suspect asthma, get your child examined and tested by a knowledgeable physician. It can make all the difference.

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