cryptosporidium

[jmb1964]

Does anyone have any experience of this?
I and four children came down with something nasty a week ago (whilst away for a long weekend without dh - aargh!) and poo from the two smallest showed cryptosporidium. I assume the rest of us have had the same, and I think it came from the 'baby' pool at the gym - we all went together the week before and I had heard from a friend that the little pool was closed the next day because of some problem with the 'tests'.
The vomiting has finally stopped, and diarrhoea nearly gone, but everyone still feels sick all the time, and I'm having a terrible time trying to persuade them to eat. How long is it going to go on?

Common in swimming pools, water supplies etc with poor filters.
should know more, but at this time of night & after my crap weekend so far my brain isn't working too well.
will look up for you in my books later if no one else has replied.

A friends ds and dd caught cryptosporidium from a farm. It's common in deer etc. Can't find my food poisoning book atm but I know my friend's dd cleared up after a few days. Her ds took longer.

message withdrawn

You have my sympathy, I know from experience that crypto can cause very painful cramps.

It is a parasite, common in sheep,deer etc. Unfortunately it is very easy to reinfect yourselves, especially with young children. Be VERY stringent with handwashing etc and use a nailbrush.

There was a big outbreak in our area some years ago - it was in the water supply - and everyone affected sued the water company. DH & I were barred from suing as I worked for the microbiology lab doing all the testing

Thanks everyone - things have at last looked up today - all eating a bit, although ds1 was sick in the night again last night. Have been getting so fussy about handwashing that even dd2 (2.8y) keeps telling me to wash my hands!
Will have to decide whether to take the plunge and send dd1 and ds1 to school tomorrow - not sure I can bear to keep them at home any longer, they're better enough to be fighting again now!
Perhaps I should sue the gym! (No, not really, it would be hypocritical as mostly I hate the blame culture..)

jmb1964, no please don't sue, but a minimum, you should call the gym and ask them to notify everyone else who may have been using the pool during that time, so that if there was anyone with immune problems they might be better prepared to deal with something like this that could potentially be fatal to them.