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"Borders on physical injury": flukes in Hamburg outdoor pool - parents pissed off

2022-06-21T08:12:15.440Z


"Borders to physical harm": cercaria in Hamburg outdoor pool – parents angry Created: 2022-06-21Updated: 2022-06-21 10:07 AM By: Steffen Maas After a visit to the Kiwittsmoor natural pool, numerous guests complain of painful rashes. The inconsolable operator contradicts the accusation that the visitors were not informed. Hamburg - "Hazardous to health", "irresponsible", "stunned": The otherwis


"Borders to physical harm": cercaria in Hamburg outdoor pool – parents angry

Created: 2022-06-21Updated: 2022-06-21 10:07 AM

By: Steffen Maas

After a visit to the Kiwittsmoor natural pool, numerous guests complain of painful rashes.

The inconsolable operator contradicts the accusation that the visitors were not informed.

Hamburg - "Hazardous to health", "irresponsible", "stunned": The otherwise so positive reviews of the Kiwittsmoor natural pool in Hamburg have been riddled with angry and disappointed guests for a day.

Apparently, numerous tiny larvae of flukes, the so-called cercariae, frolic in the water of the bath at the weekend.

Their bites trigger severe skin rashes in people, which can torment those affected in the form of itchy pustules for up to 18 days.

Surname:

swimmer's rash

Trigger:

Cercaria (larvae of flukes)

Symptoms:

redness, itching, formation of wheals and papules;

Dizziness, fever and shock rarely in severe allergic reactions

Course:

Itching in the first few days, skin changes up to 18 days later

Naturbad Kiwittsmoor: Cercaria cause severe itching

The reviews on the Google rating platform all paint a bleak picture of their stay on Saturday, June 18, 2022, when the wonderful weather lured them to the outdoor pool, as reported by 24hamburg.de.

Severe itching when bathing or shortly afterwards, overcrowded showers with crying children, desperate parents.

"Seven hours later, the children are still suffering from itching and wheals," writes a visitor to the Kiwittsmoor natural pool on Google.

What are cercariae?

The larvae of small flukes are called cercaria.

In a first instar they use aquatic snails as hosts before in the second instar they look for waterfowl.

This can then lead to contact with humans, in which they target the surface of the skin as false hosts.

This contact with the skin triggers the so-called swimmer's itch, which in humans - depending on the degree of sensitization - manifests itself with itching, an itchy rash and the formation of red spots and wheals.

Swimmer's dermatitis is over after 10 to 18 days when the skin changes have completely disappeared.

Antipruritic and anti-inflammatory ointments and cold compresses help with treatment.

Some guests called for the pool to be closed immediately and even report subsequent visits to the emergency room.

And in between there is always the accusation that the operator knew about the danger - without informing the visitors.

"Up to now we were happy to be guests, but the inconsiderate behavior borders on bodily harm," read the reviews.

Flukes in the Kiwittsmoor natural pool: the operator rejects allegations

This is contradicted by Dirk Pommerening, 1st chairman of the Hamburg Gymnastics Association, who leases and operates the natural pool.

"There are two large signs at the entrance warning of this danger," he explains.

At the checkout there would also be notes warning of an allergic reaction to cercariae bites.

Because not everyone suffers from the larvae attack, allergies or increased sensitivity can lead to painful rashes.

Flukes in the Kiwittsmoor natural pool: Parents react angrily.

(24hamburg.de montage) © Lars Berg/imago & private

"We had about 1,300 bathers on Saturday and I was in the water for a few hours myself, the majority of the guests were unaffected," Pommerening recalls.

But the first chairman doesn't really want to start with relativizations and the big "but".

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No fine-tuning after cercariae infestation in the Kiwittsmoor natural pool: "Everyone here is very, very uncomfortable"

"I have absolutely no interest in trying to sugarcoat the whole thing," he clarifies.

"If something like this happens to just one guest, that's one too many, you have to say that clearly." He completely understands the anger of the affected guests and tried to express his regret personally on Saturday.

"The whole team puts their heart and soul into it and everyone is very, very uncomfortable and it hits us hard when guests are harmed in any way during their visit," he regrets.

Insanely much blame does not lie with those responsible for this topic.

There is no way to check or test the water for cercaria on a daily basis and the infestation usually occurs very suddenly.

As the name suggests, measures involving chemical weapons are not permitted in the natural pool in the water protection area.

And all precautions that are possible are already being taken by those responsible for Kiwittsmoor.

Natural pool was closed Sunday and Monday

"We clean the tank, we chase away the waterfowl that serve as hosts for the larvae, we constantly get everything out with nets and we regularly pump out the water," Dirk Pommerening lists.

"We do what we can do." After the horror day on Saturday, the pool was closed on Sunday and Monday.

New water and supervision to ensure that ducks are not available as hosts for the larvae should reverse the infestation.

After 48 to 60 hours without a host, the cercaria die.

Pommerening would then like to continue the fresh bathing season in 2022 in a more pleasant way: "We very much hope that it will calm down afterwards." In the last year, the topic of cercaria was only dealt with once and not with such drastic effects as now.

The Gymnastics Federation chairman says that he has already sought a conversation with a biologist in order to better understand the problem and find possible long-term solutions.

He assures: "We take the issue very seriously."

City administration adds online warning notice

The city of Hamburg is reacting at short notice: At the request of 24hamburg.de, press spokeswoman Renate Pinzke announced on behalf of the Environment, Climate, Energy and Agriculture Authority (BUKEA) that the Gymnastics Association had been asked to provide information on the risk of cercaria to enhance.

The city's own website now also has more information on the fluke larvae for anyone who wants to find out more about the natural pool.

The city of Hamburg now also refers to the risk of cercaria on its website.

© Hamburg.de

When asked about the danger for other bodies of water in Hamburg, Pinzke refers to the favorite conditions of the parasites: "From water temperatures of 20 degrees Celsius, cercaria can occur in near-natural waters with waterfowl," says the press spokeswoman, who adds an example: "Before Especially in the Stadtparksee natural pool we have had frequent reports of cercaria in recent years.”

Three tips for dealing with cercaria

With regard to the detection and control of flukes, Renate Pinzke underscores Dirk Pommerening's statements: There is no way of predicting the swarming of the cercaria and even in "water quality studies, cercaria are not determined".

In addition, there is no active approach to combating it.

BUKEA wants to give three more important tips to possible swimmers: On the one hand, you should not stay “unnecessarily long” in shallow water areas with bank vegetation and, on the other hand, you should quickly take off your wet swimwear and dry yourself well with a towel after leaving the water .

It is also requested not to feed waterfowl, as an unnaturally high population increases the risk of cercariae infestation.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-06-21

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