Can a Baby Get Sick by Tap Water

Preventing Waterborne Illness in Babies and Toddlers

Medically Reviewed by Marvin Resmovits, M.D.

Medical Review Policy

All What to Await content that addresses wellness or safety is medically reviewed by a team of vetted health professionals. OurMedical Review Board includes OB/GYNs, pediatricians, infectious disease specialists, doulas, lactation counselors, endocrinologists, fertility specialists and more.

Nosotros believe you should always know the source of the information you lot're reading. Learn more about our editorial and medical review policies.

on October 22, 2020

Potentially dangerous creatures may be lurking below the surface of your favorite pond, pool, hot tub or water park. Hither's what yous need to know.

Back to Top

When temperatures rising, heading to the nearest puddle, river or lake is a cracking fashion to absurd off. Only swallowing, inhaling or fifty-fifty merely coming into contact with tainted water tin can leave you and your trivial swimmer at risk for waterborne illnesses, including gastrointestinal, ear and skin infections.

What'due south behind recreational h2o affliction? Icky equally information technology may be to think about, to some degree information technology's other swimmers with less-than-pristine personal habits (in other words, they pee and sometimes even poop in the water). Also to arraign are some public and individual puddle operators, whose water-cleanliness standards are not up to snuff.

Fortunately, there is something you lot can exercise nigh information technology. Follow this advice and you'll go a long manner toward making pond safer in terms of cleanliness.

What causes waterborne illness in babies and toddlers?

Your child is at greatest chance of waterborne disease from swimming in a puddle, hot tub, water park, lake, river or bounding main. Recreational waterborne illnesses causes include drinking, breathing or merely coming into contact with water that'southward contaminated with bugs — usually parasites or leaner.

Because the U.S. has some of the safest public water drinking h2o supplies in the globe, you're only likely to be at adventure of waterborne illnesses from drinking water if you're traveling to a developing country without access to sanitized water or sipping on water you've collected from a river or stream.

That said, drinking water in the United States does rarely get contaminated after a large rainstorm or snowstorm causes flooding of water and sewage handling facilities. Runoff from farming and manufacturing (like pesticides and fertilizers) also as naturally-occurring chemicals and minerals (like arsenic, radon and uranium) also sometimes contaminate water supplies.

What are symptoms of waterborne illness in babies and toddlers?

Gastrointestinal bug are the well-nigh common recreational water illness symptoms in babies and children. Symptoms can begin anywhere from two days to iii weeks after your fiddling ane has been infected and may include:

Go on Reading Below

• diarrhea
• vomiting
• tummy cramps
• loss of appetite
• fever

Some waterborne illnesses tin can cause ear hurting, center pain or skin rashes that occur within a few days of swimming. Symptoms may include:

• An itchy, bumpy, blood-red rash and pus-filled blisters around pilus follicles that announced within 48 hours and are worse in areas that were covered past a swimsuit (signs of a hot tub rash, or folliculitis)
• Small red pimples/blisters and tingling, burning or itchy peel occurring a few minutes to several days later on swimming (signs of swimmer's itch, or cercarial dermatitis)
• Redness, swelling and itchiness in the ear; pain when the ear is tugged on; and fluid drainage (signs of swimmer's ear, or otitis externa)

What are the about common waterborne illnesses in children?

What illnesses you tin get from contaminated water? Mutual waterborne illnesses in kids include:

• Diarrhea linked to contaminated recreational water. The parasites Cryptosporidium and Giardia intestinalis are the virtually common causes of recreational h2o illness, and they're especially probable to make immature kids ill. They're found in fecal matter and spread through animate, drinking or coming into contact with contaminated h2o while swimming.
• Hot tub rash. The bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes a pare rash that usually appears in areas covered past your child's swimsuit.
• Swimmer'due south itch. This rash is an allergic reaction to parasites that burrow into the skin. Parasites are released from snails and spread through bird and mammal feces. They're normally found in marshes and shallow water by the shoreline where kids play.
• Swimmer's ear. Outer ear infections sometimes ingather upwards when water stays for also long in the ear canal and allows bad bacteria to grow out of control.
• Illnesses linked to contaminated drinking water. These are caused past bacteria (Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella and E. coli), parasites (Giardia intestinalis) and viruses (enterovirus, hepatitis A, norovirus and rotavirus). You're actually only at risk of getting sick from drinking water if you're camping ground, traveling or otherwise without access to a safe public water supply.

How to forbid waterborne illness in babies and toddlers

These waterborne illness prevention tips can help keep your baby or toddler prophylactic:

• Have precautions before swimming. Test water'south chlorine and pH levels at home before hopping in to your pool or hot tub (more on water testing beneath). If you're taking a dip in nature, cheque for local water condition advisories and avoid swimming in marshy areas or areas where swimmer's itch is a known trouble.
• Dress for success. Outfit your child with a swim cap to go on ears as dry every bit possible. Employ a towel to dry your child'due south ears when you get out of the h2o. You can also give your little i ear plugs to wearable in the water.
• Use the bathroom regularly. Keep leaner and other bugs from getting into water in the showtime identify past taking immature kids to the bath frequently, particularly kids in diapers (have anybody launder their hands after). Proceed anyone who has or recently recovered from diarrhea out of the h2o.
• Prevent little ones from swallowing h2o. Watch kids closely so they don't swallow water while they're pond.
• Practice good hygiene. As presently as you become out of the water, remove your child's suit and give him a bath or shower with soap.Thoroughly wash your kid's swimsuit also.
• Choose safe drinking water. Drink and melt with tap or bottled water. Avoid giving your kids water that's been nerveless from rivers, lakes or streams. Ask your doctor for tips if you lot'll be camping or traveling anywhere with your lilliputian ones and aren't sure to have admission to purified water.

How to know if water is safe for my babe or toddler

Frequent testing is essential to ensure that the water's safe for swimmers. At a public pool, ask the lifeguard or director if he or she has completed specialized grooming in pool functioning and how often free chlorine and pH levels are checked (information technology should exist at least twice per day, more when the pool is heavily trafficked).

If you own a pool or hot tub, purchase a water-testing kit, bachelor at about sports supply stores. Examination the water every time before yous swim; twice a day if you're spending all day by the pool.

Hither's how to know for sure that water is safety for your baby or toddler:

• Pools: Check complimentary chlorine or bromine levels. Look for a gratuitous chlorine level of 1 to 10 mg/50 or parts per million (ppm) or a bromine level of three to 8 ppm. A pH of 7.2 to 7.viii maximizes germ-killing power. Proceed in listen that chlorine and other disinfectants don't always kill all puddle germs instantly, and some super strong bugs tolerate most levels of chlorine. Then be an advocate for waterborne affliction prevention: Push for ultraviolet or ozone-disinfection technology for pool water treatment, and encourage the facility operator to hyper-chlorinate regularly.
• Hot tubs and spas: Bank check for chlorine or bromine levels and pH levels. Wait for a chlorine level of 3 to 10 (or a bromine level of 4 to 8), and a pH of seven.two to 7.8. (The Pool & Hot Tub Brotherhood recommends keeping children out of hot tubs until they're older and tin can stand on the lesser with their heads completely out of the h2o. It's of import that infants and toddlers not exist immune in hot tubs at all — their skin is thin, which makes them prone to overheating. The group recommends that young kids shouldn't apply a hot tub for more than five minutes at a fourth dimension, especially at college temperatures; it's best to drop the temperature to 98 F and keep soaks to 15 minutes max.)
• Public beaches, rivers and lakes: Natural bodies of h2o sometimes get contaminated, and then check online for local water quality atmospheric condition. If water is accounted unsafe for swimming, wellness officials will close downward an expanse until the water is safe over again. Never swim when these areas are closed.
• Drinking water: Under the 1974 Safe Drinking H2o Human activity, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for ensuring public water supplies are tested frequently and remain within safe limits. If you lot're concerned about the condom of your tap water, check your local Consumer Conviction Report (CCR) — a summary of contaminant levels that community h2o suppliers are required to consummate every year. A change in your h2o supply's taste, color or smell is not necessarily crusade for alarm, only it's still a skillful idea to contact your public h2o supplier if you're concerned. If you lot're non satisfied, you tin can also look into getting your h2o tested by a certified laboratory in your state.

What to do if your child gets sick

If your little 1 has diarrhea that yous think might be linked to a recent trip to the pool or embankment, waterborne illness treatment involves drinking plenty of fluids to foreclose dehydration. If he seems thirsty, effort offering electrolyte rehydration solutions (e.1000. Pedialyte).

Rashes linked to recreational water illnesses normally go away on their own. If you think your child has swimmer'southward itch, endeavour applying absurd compresses or baking soda paste to the rash.

Telephone call a doctor if your child has:

• diarrhea that doesn't meliorate afterward 24 hours or that lasts more five days
• bloody stools
• chills or fever of more 102 degrees Fahrenheit
• sigs of dehydration (urinating less and less frequently and nighttime urine) — this is especially important since dehydration tin can rapidly brand young children very sick
• a rash that gets worse or recurs, or that causes astringent itching
• symptoms of swimmer's ear, especially hurting or fluid drainage from the ear

Almost chiefly, remember the biggest h2o-related danger of all: child drowning, which is the leading cause of death among children after birth defects. It only takes a few seconds of inattention for an blow to happen. So ever follow all recommended pool condom tips for kids any time y'all're nigh an open trunk of water.

Waterborne illnesses have the fun out of pond — and they're more common than you might realize. Fortunately, they're too frequently preventable, and symptoms like diarrhea and rash will most likely go away on their own.

Information technology's always a practiced thought to check the water quality before you swim and to thoroughly rinse off when y'all're done splashing effectually. And if yous're concerned about the condom of your local drinking water supply, don't hesitate to contact your local government.

From the What to Look editorial team and Heidi Murkoff, author ofWhat to Await When You're Expecting. What to Expect follows strict reporting guidelines and uses only credible sources, such as peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions and highly respected health organizations. Learn how we keep our content accurate and up-to-date by reading our medical review and editorial policy.

• What to Expect the Beginning Year, 3^rd edition, Heidi Murkoff.
• What to Expect the Second Year, Heidi Murkoff.
• WhatToExpect.com, Diarrhea in Toddlers and Babies, September 2020.
• WhatToExpect.com, Spotting and Preventing Dehydration in Babies, 2020.
• WhatToExpect.com, Child Drowning, April 2020.
• WhatToExpect.com, Spotting and Preventing Dehydration in Toddlers, April 2020.
• Puddle & Hot Tub Alliance, Hot Tub Condom Tips, 2020.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Disinfection & Testing, May 2016.
• National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Waterborne Diseases, July 2017.
• Minnesota Department of Health, Recreational Water Illness, May2018.
• Minnesota Department of Health, Causes and Symptoms of Waterborne Disease, 2020.
  
• American Academy of Pediatrics, Diarrhea, 2015.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Parasites (Water), April 2016.
• Centers for Disease Command and Prevention, Healthy Swimming: Diarrheal Disease, May 2019.
• Centers for Illness Control and Prevention, Hot Tub Rash (Pseudomonas/ Folliculitis), July 2020.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pond and Ear Infections, June 2020.
• Centers for Disease Command and Prevention, Swimmer'south Itch FAQs, September 2020.
• Centers for Disease Command and Prevention, Recreational Water Illness, June 2020.
• Centers for Disease Command and Prevention, Drinking Water FAQ, June 2020.
• Centers for Illness Control and Prevention, Consumer Conviction Reports, April 2015.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, A Guide to Drinking H2o Treatment and Sanitation for Backcountry & Travel Apply, April 2009.
• Centers for Affliction Control and Prevention, H2o Quality Information for Oceans, Lakes, and Rivers by Land, June 2020.
• American Family unit Doc, Recreational Waterborne Illnesses: Recognition, Treatment, and Prevention, May 2017.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Water Quality & Testing, Apr 2009.
• Centers for Illness Control and Prevention, Operating Public Swimming Pools, May 2016.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Residential Swimming Pools and Spas, October 2009.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Cryptosporidium Affliction & Symptoms, August 2017.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Facts Near Crypto and Swimming Pools.
• Mayo Clinic, Giardia Infection (Giardiasis), October 2018.

schmidtmorold.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.whattoexpect.com/first-year/health-and-safety/preventing-water-borne-illness-in-kids/