Archived on 6/5/2022

Warning for Beckenham Place Park swimmers over itchy parasite bites

SE26.life

10 Aug '20

Sorry to be the bearer of unpleasant news:

Swimmers are being warned that the parasite that causes ‘swimmer’s itch’ is present in the lake at Beckenham Place Park.

Swimmer’s itch, also called cercarial dermatitis, comes out as an itchy rash caused by microscopic parasites burrowing into the skin – they are released from infected snails into water.

According to the Centre of Disease Control and Prevention: “The parasite’s preferred host is the specific bird or mammal, if the parasite comes into contact with a swimmer, it burrows into the skin causing an allergic reaction and rash.

“Swimmer’s itch is found throughout the world and is more frequent during summer months.”

PTP Coaching, which run activities at the lake in Beckenham Place Park in partnership with Lewisham Council, has put a warning on its website after some swimmers complained of being bitten.

It said: “A few lake users have now reported bites appearing after their swims.

“They are coming from a small microbe that grows in lakes and rivers in the summer.

“We recommend swimmers bring a bottle of fresh water to rinse off after their swim, dry off vigorously immediately afterwards and go home to wash with soap and water.”

The cycle:

The parasite usually lives in the blood of infected animals, such as birds and mammals.

It then produces eggs that are passed in the faeces of the host – if the eggs are released into water, they hatch, releasing “free-swimming microscopic larvae”, which search for aquatic snails.

They then infect the snail, which in turn releases a different type of larvae, which searches for another host, such as a bird or a mammal.

Humans are not suitable hosts, but the microscopic larvae can burrow into the swimmer’s skin – they cannot develop inside a human and die quickly.

Thewrongtrousers

11 Aug '20

That is gross !

anon27836993

11 Aug '20

Yuck…Not nice then again a lot of litter gets dumped in parks and beaches causing all sorts of germs to mingle and breed!

HudsonWalnut

11 Aug '20

Went swimming there the other day, it’s not a big deal and just means you need to wash straight away after or dry yourself vigorously.

The PTP website has really clear, non-sensationalist advice. It’s a naturally occurring cycle, nothing to do with rubbish. And we are surrounded by microscopic things everywhere anyway.

I imagine its happened because its been out of use for a long period due to lockdown and more wildfowl have been using it because of that.

Chris

11 Aug '20

Would have made sense to have put in some type of showers when they first designed the place.

starman

12 Aug '20

Feels like we may be missing the point of wild swimming.