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Badedermatitis Severe rash may follow after the bath in the lake
In the current summer temperatures there is nothing better than to cool off while bathing. If you go swimming in a lake, you should be careful, because in some waters cercaria occur more frequently. These small larvae can cause an itchy rash in humans.
Rash due to tiny larvae
Anyone who is currently cooling off in bathing lakes runs the risk of catching bath dermatitis (cermatitis dermatitis). This itchy rash is triggered by cercaria. These are larvae of small worms (trematodes), which live in Central Europe normally in the internal organs of water fowl. With the bird droppings they get into the water, where they infect the snails living there ("intermediate host") in the bank area. In order to protect themselves, certain areas of water should be avoided, among other things.
If you take a dip in the lake in the summer, you may contract an itchy rash. In some bathing waters, cercaria are common. These tiny larvae can trigger bath dermatitis in humans. (Image: Brocreative / fotolia.com) Pathogens can not be perceived by the naked eye
When the skin itches and red wheals develop after the bath trip, many quickly think of possible insect bites.
But the cause of the rash can also be cercaria. The pathogens of bath dermatitis can not be perceived by the naked eye.
These are microscopic larvae that can occasionally appear in bathing waters, especially with a high stock of ducks and waterfowl, during the bathing season.
Especially in midsummer in long lasting summer weather with water temperatures over 20 degrees it can come to a "swarming" of the larvae, reports the Ministry of Environment, Health and Consumer Protection of the State of Brandenburg in an information sheet.
Cercaria mostly remain on the water surface. Whether the larvae in a lake are increasingly found or not, says nothing about the water quality. Under EU law, the authorities are not required to inspect bathing waters for cercaria.
Children and allergy sufferers are particularly at risk
When cercariae drills into the skin of humans, they die shortly afterwards, but can cause dermatitis.
"The cercaria or bath dermatitis is a long-known and usually uncomplicated skin disease, which usually subsides again without consequences," write the experts.
Initially, there is a mosquito-like local reaction of the skin. It can lead to allergic reactions, including the formation of red spots, which can reach a diameter of about half a centimeter after 24 hours.
On the following days, itching wheals develop, which subside after ten to 18 days. "Children and allergy sufferers are particularly at risk," it says in the information sheet.
"If symptoms after bathing, such as skin irritation or wheals occur, a doctor should be consulted and the responsible health department to be informed," said the experts.
Especially sensitive people may experience nausea and vomiting, fever and sometimes shock.
Then, according to the Brandenburg Ministry of Health, an emergency doctor must be called.
Incidentally, swallowing cercaria does not lead to illness. A transfer from person to person is also not possible.
Shore areas avoid
To protect yourself, avoid riparian zones and reedy areas where aquatic snails predominate. In addition, attention should be paid to information or warning signs on site.
The application of water-repellent sun creams or vaseline makes it difficult to penetrate the cercaria.
After bathing you should take a shower, dry your body thoroughly and change the bathing suits.
If symptoms nevertheless appear, anti-inflammatory and antipruritic preparations may help treat the itchy rash.
"In general, to reduce the concentration of cercariae in the water, ducks should not be fed around bathing areas," recommends the Nature Conservation Association (NABU) Schleswig-Holstein on its website.
"The more food, the more ducks, more feces and more cercariae." (Ad)