Swimmer's itch notoriously difficult to track, researcher says
Swimmer's itch has been reported at Pigeon Lake, Buffalo Lake and Long Lake
For most people the long weekend went swimmingly.
Warm sun, sandy beaches and cool Alberta lakes, what more could you want?
But things went a little off the rails when Shylo Johnson and her family headed to Pigeon Lake for some leisure time. They decided on Zeiner Park beach and unleashed their kids on the water.
"They were in there for about an hour-and-a-half to two hours," said Johnson. "They come in and they're all itching, and I was like 'Oh no.'"
The worst case was Johnson's 13-year-old daughter Ashyton who was covered in itchy swollen welts. Johnson brought her daughter to the hospital and sure enough the doctors told her that she had swimmer's itch — the bane of campers province-wide.
It took days for the welts to go away. By the end of the weekend, the province had mounted signs warning swimmers of the itchy peril that awaits them in the water.
Some, including the Johnsons, wondered why there weren't any signs warning families of the risks.
Hard to track
Patrick Hanington, the founder of swimmersitch.ca, said the warning only came after Johnsons reported it because the parasites that cause swimmer's itch are notoriously hard to track.
"It's pretty challenging for Alberta Health Services to predict when swimmer's itch is going to be a problem. It's difficult for us and we have a lot of information on it," said Hanington.
It can be really difficult for us to predict what's going on and that's why you don't see signs because it's something you can't monitor very effectively.- Patrick Hanington
Hanington, an associate professor of public health at the University of Alberta, said swimmer's itch conditions can change rapidly.
"It can even change in the course of a single day on the same beach," said Hanington.
"It can be really difficult for us to predict what's going on and that's why you don't see signs because it's something you can't monitor very effectively."
According to Hanington's website, swimmer's itch has been reported at Pigeon Lake, Buffalo Lake and Long Lake Provincial Park.
The species can live in all Alberta lakes except for those in the mountains. Hanington said there are five different species of parasites that cause the condition in Alberta.
There are two slightly different rashes, one that happens in the water and another that happens when the water dries off.
"In general, it's an allergic condition. The condition itself is the same for the most part but the species of parasites that can cause swimmer's itch can vary."
The rashes are caused when the parasite larvae enter the human skin. The red burns that are common with the rash are where each larvae has penetrated — the parasite dies almost immediately after entering the skin.
It can last up to several weeks.
Not much can be done to warn swimmers before it happens as it would require daily monitoring, said Hanington, so most signs have to go up retroactively.
The worst times tend to be the end of July and early August so it's almost certain more swimmers will be getting that dreaded itch.
But not Ashyton Johnson who, according to her mother, has sworn off Alberta lakes for the time being.
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With files from Ariel Fournier