The real threat of swimmers’ itch in anthropogenic recreational water body of the Polish Lowland

Abstract

After numerous reports the local press about the “stinging water” in created on the Dzierżęcinka River—Water Valley reservoir and recognizing in bathers the symptoms of swimmers’ itch, environmental study on the presence of bird schistosome larvae in snail hosts was conducted. Snails belonging to Lymnaeidae and Planorbidae were collected at two sites: (i) part of anthropogenic reservoir (192 individuals) and (ii) the river part (37 individuals). Higher prevalence of Digenea was observed in snail populations living in Water Valley (29.8 %) compared to Dzierżęcinka River (21.3 %). The larvae of bird schistosomes were recorded in both localities in 1.8 % of collected snails. The prevalence of bird schistosomes reached 2.9 % in Planorbarius corneus, 2.8 % in Radix auricularia, and 5.9 % in Radix balthica/labiata. Laboratory tests have shown that at 19 °C the number of bird schistosome cercariae released from snail hosts significantly exceeded the number of cercariae of other identified Digenea species. It is worth underlining that despite the low prevalence of bird schistosomes, the high number of released cercariae was sufficient to create a real threat of swimmers’ itch in bathers. As indicated by the example presented, anthropogenic reservoirs create excellent conditions for Digenea species including bird schistosomes. In view of the real risk of people using the waters, tests on presence of the parasites in snail hosts should be included to the standard procedure of security control in bathing places.

Agents of swimmer’s itch—dangerous minority in the Digenea invasion of Lymnaeidae in water bodies and the first report of Trichobilharzia regenti in Poland

“…Only isolated cases of the presence of T. szidati in L. stagnalis (Żbikowska 2005 ) and S. palustris (Cichy 2013 ) as well as T. franki in R. auricularia (Żbikowska 2004 ) have been reported. In our previous study (Marszewska et al 2016 ), we made an assumption that cercariae found in R. balthica belonged to the nasal bird schistosome species T. regenti . Molecular analysis performed in the present study confirmed this assumption.…”

“…Many digenetic trematodes pose threat to animal and human health (Cheng 1986 ). These parasites include bird schistosomes, whose invasion on humans has been recently reported in many countries (Rao et al 2007 ; Valdovinos and Balboa 2008 ; Gohardehi et al 2013 ; Marie et al 2015 ; Marszewska et al 2016 ; Caron et al 2017 ). The disease caused by cercariae of these trematodes occurs globally and is considered to be re-emerging (Kolářová et al 2010 ).…”

Potamopyrgus antipodarumas a potential defender against swimmer’s itch in European recreational water bodies—experimental study

“…One of the re-emerging worldwide medical problems connected to parasites of complex life cycle is cercarial dermatitis, also known as swimmer’s itch ( Cort, 1936 ; Hunter et al, 1949 ; Jarcho & Van Burkalow, 1952 ; Macy, 1952 ; Hoeffler, 1974 ; Leedom & Short, 1981 ; Eklu-Natey et al, 1985 ; Blankespoor & Reimink, 1991 ; Loken, Spencer & Granath Jr, 1995 ; Pilz, Eisels & Disko, 1995 ; Lindblade, 1998 ; Kolářová, Skírnisson & Horák, 1999 ; Horák et al, 2015 ). Marszewska et al (2016) observed this medical problem in many bathing localities in Polish Lowland Lakes during the last two years. The dermatitis appears as an itchy, lumpy rash on the skin that persists for several weeks ( Żbikowska, Wójcik & Grygon-Franckiewicz, 2002 ).…”

Swimmer’s itch in Canada: a look at the past and a survey of the present to plan for the future

“…Other reports from the literature tend to find higher prevalence of schistosomes among snails, although in general less snails are collected and examined, and reports are from a single time point (e.g. 1.24–1.8% in Poland, 3456 and 299 snails examined, respectively [ 40 , 41 ]; 0.9–1.3% in Argentina, 402 snails examined [ 28 ]; 2.6% in Belgium, 270 snails examined [ 42 ]). Nevertheless, if the rate of prevalence for schistosomes in snails uncovered through this study is indicative of that for lakes across Alberta, or elsewhere, this holds significance for control measures.…”