Beware of swimming pool parasites

As if we didn’t have enough to worry about on these hot summer days. Now it’s cryptosporidium.

It’s a word difficult to pronounce and harder to spell but it needs our attention.

An unwanted, creepy visitor may be lurking in the cool pool you are using for relief from the summertime heat.



Cryptosporidium, commonly known as crypto, is a chlorine-resistant parasite and its infection rates are on the rise, as Jenni Broomhead learned last summer after throwing a party at a public pool where 40 people ended up getting ill.

She and other parents paid thousands of dollars in medical bills for children who had to be treated at the hospital.

Pools, ponds and other bodies of water can host crypto, which when ingested can cause an illness for up to two weeks. Symptoms can include bouts of diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting and low-grade fevers.

Click here for more information as well as tips for avoiding crypto.