“When I was a kid, the word was, if you have a cut, go in saltwater, it’s the best thing for you,” Knauf said. Swimmers are also advised to cover any wounds with a waterproof bandage when in contact with salt or brackish water, marine life, or raw or undercooked seafood, and to wash any cuts thoroughly with soap and water. Swimmers can reduce the chance of infection, according to a departmental release, by staying out of salt or brackish water if they have a wound, including wading at the beach. Darien Health Director David Knauf said people who are out clamming and oystering in the Sound should follow the same guidelines as commercial shellfishing – placing harvested shellfish immediately on ice. The Department of Public Health has advised the public against eating raw or undercooked oysters and shellfish, though no illnesses have been linked to Connecticut shellfish.
The remaining 9 departments did not respond in time for publication. Seven departments responded that they had not recorded an infection: the Connecticut River Area Health District, which includes Clinton and Old Saybrook, and local health departments in Madison, Stratford, Bridgeport, Fairfield, Darien and Greenwich. Coli in inland swimming areas Samples sent to the Department of Public Health by regional and municipal health officials follow the same methods, he said.ĬT Examiner contacted the 16 health departments along the Connecticut shoreline to ask if they had any reports of vibrio infections. While local and state health departments routinely test water at beaches for bacteria, they don’t test for vibrio bacteria – neither the deadly vibrio vulnificus or the more common but less severe vibrio parahaemolyticus.ĭepartment of Energy and Environmental Protection spokesperson Will Healey said the state tests only for Enterococcus bacteria in the four saltwater state beaches, and E. Vibrio bacteria are naturally occurring, but are present in higher concentrations in the summer when the salt water in the Long Island Sound is warmer, and filter-feeding shellfish, like oysters, can concentrate vibrio in their flesh when it’s present in the water. New York officials said one person died from vibrio vulnificus infection in Suffolk County on Long Island, and that death is still under investigation. And about 1 in 5 people die from infection, sometimes within a day or two of becoming sick, according to the CDC. Called vibriosis, the condition can kill the flesh around infected wounds and often requires intensive care or amputation. People with liver disease, cancer or weakened immune systems, or who swim with open wounds, are more likely to contract the infection.īut infections are serious. Vibrio vulnificus infections are relatively rare, with about 100 to 200 cases each year in the U.S. The decision breaks with past departmental practices of issuing detailed press releases identifying the suspected location of infection by West Nile, COVID, vibrio and other diseases. One later died.ĬT Examiner requested records under the Freedom of Information Act to identify where the swimmers may have been infected, but the department’s spokesperson Chris Boyle said the department was not releasing that information.Īccording to Russell Blair, director of education and communications for the Freedom of Information Commission, the department can withhold for reasons of confidentiality the records of investigations of certain diseases - including botulism, West Nile virus, Monkey Pox, and COVID.
Two people between the ages of 60 and 80 were infected in July with vibrio vulnificus, commonly known as “flesh-eating bacteria.” The two swimmers had open wounds and were infected in separate locations, according to the department. The Connecticut Department of Public Health declined to provide the locations where two swimmers were infected with a deadly bacteria while swimming in the Long Island Sound off Connecticut.
0 kommentar(er)
