Babies in Any Pool Not a Problem? Read This

[cruisead]

The following is an article written by Daniel Yee of the AP and was printed in many newspapers all over the country---this particular one was from the Salt Lake City newspaper. It sure does give pause to anyone who still thinks babies in pools are OK.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says more Americans - perhaps a thousand or more each year - are getting sick from public swimming pools.
That's not so many when you consider the millions of people who go swimming. However, reported pool-related outbreaks - mainly bouts of diarrhea - rose from two in 1986 to 21 in 2000, the most recent CDC statistics available. While the agency does not keep track of how many swimmers were affected in those cases, it does know that most of the 16,800 confirmed illnesses in the 1990s linked to outbreaks in recreational waters occurred in swimming pools and spas.
''And that's only a fraction of what's out there,'' said Michael Beach, epidemiologist with the CDC's Division of Parasitic Diseases. ''There are definitely a lot more cases that are not being reported. We believe some of the biggest outbreaks are in pools.''
The latest numbers from the federal agency show that more than 1,800 pools had to be immediately closed after inspections revealed serious health violations that put swimmers at risk, such as not having enough disinfectant to kill germs in the water. The CDC analyzed 22,131 inspections conducted two years ago and found that 54 percent uncovered one or more pool safety violations, everything from filtration to chlorine problems.
Government health officials are urging pool operators and swimmers to do more to prevent the spread of disease. They are pressing for more regular inspections and better staff training

[Pikaia]

It ain't just babies that are to blame, so please give 'em a break already. :) Most of these pool-related cases of diarrhea are thought to be caused by older, potty-trained kids attending swimming lessons or open swim sessions. (Hey, everyone has a bad day once in a while, including kids!) I saw the CDC report when it was published, and it will make me think twice about going to the public pool....

:) Carolyn

[AiAi]

Where in the article did it mention babies? I saw filtration problems, chlorine issues and needing more inspections...but I missed the sentence that said babies were the cause.

[crystalloubear]

Maybe she is looking out for the welfare of our babies by warning us not to expose them to the sicknesses caused by public pools. Thank you so much for your concern. I will think twice before exposing my children or myself to the germs in the public pools since the owners of these pools do not do their part to treat the water properly. After all, aren't the caretakers of these pools the ones who have put us all at risk not babies.

[cruisead]

It was meant as a warning to everyone that public pools aren't the safest place to swim unless you know what's happening with the care of the pool. The problems aren't just with babies, but with anyone who has a problem. But most of the discussions on this board has been about babies in the pools, so I related this issue to all of those discussions. There have been those who have said that chlorine kills germs, but it appears that it doesn't. And since infants and young children are the most at risk for health problems of this nature because they don't have the strongest immune systems, it just makes good sense to see to it that all public pools are kept clean. Plus, we all know that at least at city pools, a majority of those who use them are kids and not adults.

[AiAi]

thanks for trying to inform.

[Pikaia]

[quote name='cruisead']There have been those who have said that chlorine kills germs, but it appears that it doesn't.[/QUOTE]It does, but it takes time. When fecal matter has contaminated a land-based swimming pool, the pool staff are supposed to clear the pool for 24 hours to allow the chemicals and filtration system to take care of any pathogens.

[Host Walt]

A reminder about our posting [url="http://boards.cruisecritic.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=1744160"]guidelines[/url]:

[b][color=deepskyblue]Copyright Infringements[/color][/b]
[i]The posting of large blocks of text obtained from the Internet, online newspapers, web sites, magazines, etc., defeats the purpose of our Cruise Boards. All of this information is available to everyone online, and doesn't add to the idea of sharing firsthand experiences and cruise advice. Also, the majority of information out there is protected by an author's individual copyright. Therefore, we will remove such information from the message boards. You may LINK via url to the information.[/i]

The term "large" doesn't apply here because the full article is much longer, so the original post by cruisead is limited to a few salient portions that contain important information for family cruisers and is fine.

Here's a link to the full article [url="http://www.harktheherald.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=30576&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0"]CDC Warns Pool-Related Disease On Rise In U.S.[/url]

[Catnip]

To the OP,
Thanks for posting that. I would think most people would be happy to be informed. That's the reason I don't frequent public pools with lots of small kids or babies in them. You know as well as I do that not all small kids get out when they have to use the facilties.

[Jessica&Ben]

And neither do some adults!