SWIMMERS ITCH!

[almontefisher]

Wolfe: My nephew had welts like that all over as well but his were from stinging nettles...The ywill look just like that and some people are affected for a week or so...Stings really bad for a while.

[uberfish]

Hi Wolfe,
I'd have to vote for swimmers itch. My boy and his cousin came down with it in Golden Lake a few years back. All down their legs from wading. My son to this day has bad thoughts about Golden Lake. Drying off right away when getting out of the water is suppossed to help. The welts are caused by the parasite digging in as the water dries. Rinsing off helps too. It is also seasonal, worst in the spring. I wasn't bothered by it when the boys were and I was wading all over the shallows, fishing for bass. Tough skin or taste bad?

[wolfe]

The more I read and the more I hear, it would seem that this godforsaken "swimmer's itch" is the culprit. Guys, when I tell you it looks like Tyler was shake & baked in welts, I exaggerate not! Pretty much tip to toe.

The puzzle pieces just fall into place, between the water, the ducks, the fact that Tyler does not usually towel off like Shane, but "air dries" ...and again, the super overactive immune systems he suffers with.

Another question: do you guys think it is worthwhile to report what happened to the Wolfe Lake Assoc., etc.? Or just a waste of time. I even took pic's of Ty, because I wanted it documented for his Pediatric chart. It is just that bizarre looking.

I noticed from Yak Attack's article (the one he posted for my info) that the ladies reported their situation and snails were supposedly going to be checked.

First thought is don't waste my time, as nothing would be done, but my kids are going to be spending A LOT of time at the lake, so...

I kind of also wonder: what can be done about the problem? Not much, I'd say. Ya got lakes, ya got ducks, ya got ducks pooping, ya got snails.

Suddenly, our "Fred & Ethel" aren't lookin' too cute.

??!!

W.

[wolfe]

Finally had a little time to myself to google up swimmers itch (that doesn't sound right... )

Yak and others, you are dead on. I found plenty of photo's that look EXACTLY like Tyler's skin and read a Dermatological article on it that was pretty informative.

So thanks again, because the Pediatrician misdiagnosed this big time. Luckily, the treatment would have been the same regardless of whether it was "insect bites" like they said or this aquatic parasite attack and that is antihistamines / corticosteroids. It just irks me because they kept insisting that some people are just more prone to mosquitoes and Tyler probably "walked into a nest of something". Ugh. I knew that didn't make sense.

For anyone interested, here are a couple of links.

I just wanted to say THANKS again, especially to Yak Attack.

Ty's feeling a little better today/tonight...still itchy, but better.

I'm just not sure when I'm going to let him back in the lake, because his skin is still so irritated & who knows whether those duck craps are still floating around with little buggers ready to pounce on my kids. It's like JAWS. (Hear music, da-dum, da-dum, da-dum, DA-DUM, DA-DUM....!!!! )

LINKS:

Photo of Swimmer's Itch
http://dermnetnz.org/arthropods/img/swimmer1-s.jpg

Derm article:


W.

[wolfe]

oops

I fixed both links. They should work (photo in prior post, article below).

Derm article:

http://www.aocd.org/skin/dermatologic_d ... _itch.html

W.

[Gord]

guess yer gonna have to put a pool in at the cottage now.... ...just kidding W ..cant imagine what the lil' guy had to endure.......glad to hear he's on the mend!

[ratsotail]

Wolfe,

Here's my two cents...last year I started doing a lot of wet wading in the Rideau River on the Southern outskirts of Ottawa. The fishing for smallies was outstanding, but after two trips and lots of bites on the backs of my legs similar to the ones you describe on your son I quit the wet wading and started using my chest waders. The only thing I can think of is I waded through a lot of aquatic weed to get to my fishing holes and there must be some insect that hangs on the weeds and loves to bite soft flesh. The effects from the welts lasted about four days. Just curious...did the area the kids swam in also have some weed growth they had to walk through to get back to shore?

I'm not a biologist and asked several people what I could have happened upon, but got no answers. I hope the itching has stopped and I'd like to know if our experience is related!

ratsotail

[Kristine]

Hi everyone,

I'm a health reporter with The Canadian Press and I'm looking for stories of people who have had swimmer's itch. It sounds like lots of you have experienced this. If you'd be willing to talk about your experience, please e-mail me at kowram@cp.org or post a message here.

Thanks so much for your help,
Kristine

[wolfe]

ratsotail,

Your mention of weeds and wading certainly bring Swimmers Itch to mind. Those are classic scenarios for it, apparently. I hope you'll take a moment or two to check out the links I posted earlier in the thread.

The parasite responsible for the welts actually needs two hosts to complete its life cycle. One being waterfowl of some type, usually, like ducks and apparently mergansers are hugely affected....and the other host species being snails.

It's best to do your swimming in deeper water...cooler and/or choppier water...than the still, shallows.

Symptoms generally last 3 days to 1 week. Subsequent encounters can potentially mean a more severe immune response. Hence my dilemna with Tyler.

Anyone think this Kristine is on the up & up?

W.

[slushpuppy]

Anyone think this Kristine is on the up & up?

W.

I believe so, I googled the name and it fits. Here is a link to one of her articles.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/0706 ... ncer_tea_1

[YakAttack]

the Pediatrician misdiagnosed this big time.[....] they kept insisting that some people are just more prone to mosquitoes and Tyler probably "walked into a nest of something".

Yeah, I'm sure doctor's aren't usually trained naturalists Did the doctor think that you wouldn't have noticed in the past 10 years if your kid was more prone to mosquitoes? Mom knows their kid best - some doctors should listen better.

I'm glad to have been able to help. Anybody with a kid who's come down with something weird is best buddies with google eh?

Thank you for providing updates and more info about the itch. I'm thinking of buying a wetsuit for yakking in the colder months, and I think that it would be a good solution for wading in waters that are prone to the itch.

scott

[wolfe]

Slushy, thx. No offense meant to her, just a little cautious when someone's 1st post is requesting some sort of contact. I'll check it out.

W.

[wolfe]

Did the doctor think that you wouldn't have noticed in the past 10 years if your kid was more prone to mosquitoes? Mom knows their kid best - some doctors should listen better.

I've been staying on Wolfe Lake for 30 yrs, and told him so. We're no stranger to bugs, and even here at home, we're rural. With regard to the "listening better", those are the exact words I used when I spoke to the doctor.

Wet suits aren't a bad idea, either; they are actually recommended in infested waters. It seems overkill, but if Tyler's next exposure could be even more severe than the 1st, suddenly it doesn't seem unreasonable.

W.

[popper]

I lived in central BC and swimmers itch was a good part of swimming in many of the local lakes. We called it "duck mites" If possible a shower right after the swim, before you dried off was a big help. It washes off the mites. If you did end up with mites bites, tiny itchy bumps all over, then Koala Cream saved our sanity. It was a cream we bought at the drug store. It stopped the itch.

Here is a cut and paste that explains swimmers itch quite well.

Medical Officer Memo
To Physicians and Other Health Care Staff
From Dr. Paul Schnee, Medical Officer of Health
August 11, 1996
Swimmer's Itch
Considerable concern was aroused recently regarding a terrible new disease contracted from lakes north and northwest of Edmonton. This disease, named "duck itch" by some unknown namer of new diseases, supposedly caused the necessity of amputating a man's arm. Needless to say, the rumours were false and the condition is a common and ancient one on these lakes, i.e. swimmer's itch.

One man, who was pulling weeds from the water with his right arm for several hours, did get a severe case of swimmer's itch on this arm. In addition to the typical spots (resembling hives or mosquito bites) his arm became swollen and inflamed.

Waterfowl (mainly ducks and geese) are the definitive host of the schistosomes that cause swimmer's itch, hence the probable connection between swimmer's itch and "duck itch." I don't know whether ducks get itchy when the schistosome cercaria penetrate their skin, nor whether they get sick from an infection. However, the schistosomes develop into adult worms and mate in the waterfowl, then the schistosome eggs are passed into the water via waterfowl urine and feces. The eggs hatch in the water producing miracidia which invade snails. Here the miracidia develop into infective cercaria which are released into the water where they again penetrate waterfowl, and on goes the life cycle.

However, if a swimmer happens to be in water containing cercaria, they may decide to penetrate the swimmer's skin rather that the duck's. The cercaria tend to swim near the surface of the water and are attracted to the warm temperature of the skin. Swimmer's at greatest risk are those in warm, shallow, calm water near aquatic vegetation which may harbor snails. Children often get swimmer's itch when wading and playing in shallow and weedy water.

The reaction to cercarial penetration depends upon whether the exposure was a first or subsequent exposure. My understanding is that the itching and subsequent rash is caused by the immune system's reaction to the foreign organisms in the skin, in a similar way that scabies mites cause itching. The difference between swimmer's itch and scabies is that the schistosome cercaria soon die in human skin and are therefore not infectious to others, whereas scabies mites live and reproduce in human skin, thereby causing an ongoing infectious condition.

In a non-sensitized person (i.e. not previously exposed to cercarial penetration) itching and skin irritation can begin within a half hour after penetration by the cercaria. This lasts only 2 or 3 days. A few days later, a second reaction occurs (due to immune response) again including intense itching and accompanied by "spots" (papules). Following subsequent infections, the reaction (itching and "spots') will occur shortly after exposure.

The list of differential diagnoses of this rash includes; contact dermatitis, poison oak or poison ivy, insect bites, impetigo or scabies. However, if your patient has been recently swimming in a lake in this area, swimmer's itch is certainly first on the list. Unless the rash is secondarily infected by bacteria, the only treatment needed is an antipruritic. I don't know which works the best, but since the rash is related to an immune response, something with a topical antihistamine should work best. Caladryl, for example, might work well.