Holidaymakers advised of hygiene precautions as cryptosporidiosis reported in returning travellers
- Increased levels of cryptosporidiosis, a potentially severe stomach bug, reported from areas of Spain, particularly Salou in Catalonia
- Hand hygiene and food and water precautions can help keep you safe
With more Irish holidaymakers returning from abroad with gastrointestinal illness (diarrhoea and vomiting), the HSE is advising people to take extra hygiene precautions when travelling overseas. Increased levels of cryptosporidiosis, a bug that produces gastroenteritis, have been reported over the last month in holidaymakers coming home from some parts of Spain, particularly Salou in Catalonia.
There has been a widespread increase in cryptosporidiosis in Europe in August and September that is most likely because of the extreme weather in European, especially in Mediterranean countries, over the summer.
If you are travelling to an area where there may be outbreaks of gastrointestinal disease (including cryptosporidiosis), there are important measures you can take to protect yourself and your family, including good hand hygiene and taking precautions with water and food.
Wash your hands frequently using soap and clean water:
1. before eating and drinking
2. before and after preparing food, particularly raw meat
3. after using the toilet or changing nappies
4. after visiting food markets
5. after hand contact with items in public areas
6. after touching live animals.
If you cannot wash your hands, use alcohol based sanitiser. Remember, hand sanitisers are only going to work as long as your hands are not visibly dirty.
What precautions should I take with water?
1. Check to see if the tap water is treated - smell it for the bleachy odour of chlorine
2. Ask your accommodation manager if they consider their tap water safe
3. If unsure, avoid drinking tap water where possible
4. Don’t use ice in your drinks
5. If you are not happy to drink the water, don't brush your teeth with it - use bottled water instead
6. Do not enter swimming pools if you are unhappy with the hygiene arrangements.
7. If the beach or the sea do not look clean, do not swim in the water
8. Always shower after swimming in the pool or the sea
9. If you have diarrhoea, do not enter swimming pools for two days after your symptoms have settled
10. Don’t let your baby swim in a pool wearing regular nappies, use swimming nappies
The following drinks are generally safe:
1. Bottled or canned mineral water, fruit juice and fizzy drinks/sodas
2. Hot drinks
3. Beer and wine.
What precautions should I take with food?
1. Ensure, where practicable, that food eaten is freshly cooked and piping hot
2. Avoid food about which you have doubts, for example, salads or cold meats from retail outlets with questionable hygiene
3. Avoid food offered by street vendors
4. Avoid lettuce and undercooked shellfish, and food exposed to flies – fruit is safe if eaten peeled
5. Check out any restaurant before you order your meal – if you are not happy with its cleanliness go somewhere else.
The most common symptom is watery diarrhoea, some people may also experience dehydration, weight loss, stomach cramps, fever, nausea and vomiting. While others may not have symptoms at all. Symptoms usually last between 1 to 2 weeks. While it is a mild disease in healthy people, it can be worse in small children and elderly people, and can be very serious for people who are immunocompromised.
Further information:
What are the symptoms of cryptosporidiosis?
The most common symptom of cryptosporidiosis is watery diarrhoea. Other symptoms include:
1. Dehydration
2. Weight loss
3. Stomach cramps or pain
4. Fever
5. Nausea
6. Vomiting
Some people with cryptosporidiosis will have no symptoms at all.
How long after infection do symptoms appear?
Symptoms of cryptosporidiosis generally begin 2 to 10 days (average 7 days) after becoming infected with the parasite.
How long will symptoms last?
In persons with healthy immune systems, symptoms usually last about 1 to 2 weeks. The symptoms may go in cycles in which you may seem to get better for a few days, then feel worse again before the illness ends. It is a mild disease in healthy people. It is often more severe in small children and elderly people and can be very serious in those people who are immunocompromised (such as patients undergoing cancer treatment, those living with HIV).
Cryptosporidium can be quite contagious. These simple measures will reduce the likelihood of spread:
1. Wash your hands with soap and water after using the toilet, changing nappies, and before eating or preparing food.
2. Do not swim in recreational water (pools, hot tubs, lakes or rivers, etc.) if you have cryptosporidiosis and for at least 2 weeks after diarrhoea stops. Cryptosporidium can be spread in a chlorinated pool because it is resistant to chlorine.
People who are most likely to become infected with cryptosporidium include:
1. Children who attend day care centres, including children in nappies.
2. Child care workers
3. Parents of infected children
4. International travellers
5. Backpackers, hikers, and campers who drink unfiltered, untreated water
6. Swimmers who swallow water while swimming in swimming pools, lakes, rivers, ponds, and streams
7. People who swallow water from contaminated sources.