Recreational Water Illness Prevention Week
The week before Memorial Day has been
designated as National Recreational Water Illness
Prevention Week. The goal of the recognition is to
highlight the importance of healthy swimming behaviors
in preventing recreational water illnesses (RWIs). State
and local health departments across the country
investigated more RWI outbreaks in 2007 than ever
before. This upsurge is being driven by an increase in
the number of RWI outbreaks caused by Cryptosporidium
(“Crypto”), a chlorine resistant parasite, and is
primarily associated with treated recreational water
venues, such as pools and water parks. This was the case
for Sedgwick County pools last year: seventy-five
confirmed cases of Crypto were identified in 2007,
compared to seven in the previous four years.
The Sedgwick County Health Department and Sedgwick
County Code staff have partnered with leaders from
cities throughout Sedgwick County to come up with an
educational campaign regarding RWIs. They have created
laminated posters to post at pools as well as flyers for
pool operators. To request a laminated poster, please
call 316-660-7345. You can download the pool operator
flyer by clicking
here. For
information regarding pools in Wichita, contact City of
Wichita Environmental Services at 316-268-8351 or click
here.
Click here
to visit the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's
(CDC's) Web site for more information on Recreational
Water Illness.
© Copyright, 2009 Sedgwick County, Kansas
Please report problems to the webmaster
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED