About Recreational Water Illnesses

Recreational water illnesses (RWI) can spread easily if some simple precautions aren't taken. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), RWIs can be caused by, " ...swallowing, breathing, or having contact with contaminated water from swimming pools, spas, lakes, rivers, or oceans."
Diarrheal illnesses are common. The germs are spread if a person has an accident in the pool or if they have infected fecal matter on their body. The CDC states that, "On average, people have about 0.14 grams of feces on their bottoms." Even this small amount is enough to spread the illness to others. The best way to avoid this is to not get in a pool or water if you are suffering from diarrhea.
RWIs can affect just about any body system. Other than causing gastrointestinal illness, they can also cause:

skin, ear, and eye Infections; respiratory infections; neurologic infections; and wound infections.
The skin, ear and eye infections possible are ringworm, pink eye, Pseudomonasdermatitis, swimmer's ear (caused by the germ Pseudomonas aeruginosa), swimmer's itch (an allergic reaction to parasites from the water) and athlete's foot (another form of ringworm).
Respiratory infections possible include adenovirus 14 and Legionnaires' disease (caused by the Legionella bacteria). Legionnaire's disease is fatal in 5 - 30 percent of cases. Antibiotics are required to kill the bacteria.
Neurologic infections include Naegleria fowleri infection and asceptic meningitis. Naegleria infection is usually fatal, as it causes a rare brain infection. Though meningitis can be cured with antibiotics, it is a serious illness and can be fatal.
Wound infections are caused by either Vibrio vulnificus or Vibrio parahaemolyticus. They can cause ulceration of the wound area and possibly spread to the bloodstream. Once it has spread to the bloodstream, it can potentially cause death.
The CDC offers these tips for preventing RWIs, "Please don't swim when you have diarrhea. You can spread germs in the water and make other people sick.

Please don't swallow the pool water. Avoid getting water in your mouth.

Please practice good hygiene. Shower with soap before swimming and wash your hands after using the toilet or changing diapers. Germs on your body end up in the water."

RWI Fact Sheets, http://cdc.gov/healthyswimming/fact_sheets.htm#swimmer