What can be done to reduce the chances of getting swimmer’s itch?
Swimmers itch minnesota skin#
Some people may get relief from the itching by applying skin lotions or creams to the infected site. There is no treatment necessary for Swimmer’s Itch. What is the treatment for Swimmer’s Itch? Symptoms may appear within 1 to 2 hours of exposure. Repeated exposure increases a person’s allergic sensitivity to the parasite and increases the likelihood of rash development. The symptoms should disappear within a week.Ī person’s first exposure to infected water may not result in the itchy rash. The irritated spot reaches its maximum size after about 24 hours the itching may continue for several days. Whenever infected water is allowed to evaporate off the skin, an initial tingling sensation may be felt associated with the penetration of the parasite into the skin.
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All age groups and both sexes can be involved, but children are most often infected due to their habits of swimming or wading in shallow water and playing on the beach as the water evaporates from the skin.Īn individual may get the infection by swimming or wading in infested water and then allowing water to evaporate off the skin rather than drying the skin with a towel. People who swim or wade in infested water may experience this itchy rash. Only about one third of the people who come in contact with the parasite develop Swimmer’s Itch. In Western Minnesota, particularly on Lake Minnewaska, it is known as “Lake Itch.” In Australia it is known as “pelican itch”. In certain parts of Canada, mainly Ontario, it is known as “Duck Lice” and “Beaver Lice”. In the United States it is known to some as “duckworms” (in coastal New Jersey) or “clam digger’s itch”. For example, in Japan it is called “kubure” or “kobanyo”, in Malaysia, “sawah”, and in Thailand, “hoi con”. In eastern nations, it is often named in reference to the rice paddies where it is contracted, producing names which translate to “rice paddy itch”. Since a human is not their natural host, the parasite does not mature, reproduce or cause any permanent infection. After penetration, these parasites remain in the skin and die but can cause an allergic reaction in some people.
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As part of their developmental life-cycle, these parasites are released from infected snails, migrate through the water, and are capable of penetrating the human skin. Common grackles, red-winged blackbirds, ducks, geese, swans, muskrats and moles have been found to carry the parasite. Swimmer’s itch is a skin rash caused by a parasite (shistosomes) which ordinarily infect birds, semi-aquatic mammals, and snails.