Personal Injury Solicitors

Alarming reports about some hotel guests deliberately contaminating swimming pool water with human waste at hotels in Egypt, Turkey and Spain means holidaymakers need to be aware of how to protect themselves from bacterial and parasitic gastric illnesses which thrive in water – including Cryptosporidium, which is known as the swimming pool bug.

How Cryptosporidium is contracted

Cryptosporidiosis is an illness transmitted via human or animal waste when swimmers ingest water contaminated with the parasite Cryptosporidium (or “Crypto”) in a swimming pool.

It is essential to shower before and after using the swimming pool to prevent passing on infections like Cryptosporidium – and never use the pool with a stomach upset or under the influence of alcohol or recreational or prescription drugs, which can affect control over bodily functions.

The parasite Cryptosporidium can also be present in drinking water contaminated with human or animal faeces. This can happen if water supplies are drawn near grazing lands, where animal waste can find its way into rivers – or if crops are treated with sewage water.

In some hotels abroad, landscaped gardens and lawns may also be watered using sewage water, so holidaymakers need to be vigilant and report to their holiday representative or the hotel management any areas of the grounds which may smell of sewage.

Wild swimming can also be a high risk factor for Cryptosporidium, so if a holiday excursion involves swimming in natural waters, make sure they are safe and not contaminated, or near animal grazing pastures or land treated with sewage.

What is Cryptosporidium?

Cryptosporidium is a water-borne parasite which exists in a protective microbial cyst (oocyst) which lodges in the intestinal tract for up to 30 days.

The symptoms of infection take between two and 10 days to develop after ingesting contaminated water in a swimming pool or drinking contaminated water – and typically symptoms of Cryptosporidiosis last for between seven and 14 days.

Classic symptoms of holiday sickness and diarrhoea occur, including headaches, stomach cramps, fever, vomiting – and episodes of diarrhoea may be profuse and blood-streaked.

Symptoms may get better and then return again – this is not unusual and can also happen with bacterial infections like Salmonella, which is why a diagnosis is needed.

The symptoms of Cryptosporidiosis usually clear up by themselves. However, in vulnerable children, the elderly and those with impaired immune systems – such as cancer patients and HIV/Aids patients – the symptoms can be extremely serious.

Seek medical help on holiday and see a GP for a diagnosis after returning home from holiday, as further medical attention may be needed.

Avoiding Cryptosporidium on holiday

Hotel swimming pools should be checked for contamination by hotel management at regular intervals during the day.

A noticeboard near the pool should state when the pool was last checked and disinfected (usually with information about levels of disinfectant used), as well as the temperature of the water. Not all hotels offer this information, however.

Sometimes bacterial and parasitic infections can become resistant to chemicals like chlorine, so it is advisable not to use the pool if it seems poorly maintained.

Complain to the hotel management or the tour operator’s representative if a swimming pool is dirty, has leaves or insects in it – or there are broken tiles, steps or diving boards.

If the swimming pool is obviously contaminated with human or animal waste, do not use it – complain immediately and take photographs or video to back up your complaint.

If the hotel pool is contaminated with waste food which has been thrown in or fallen in, it is also advisable not to swim in it – especially if the food may have been there overnight. Food can attract rats, which spread Weil’s disease through their urine – a bacterial infection which can be fatal.

Children and preventing holiday Cryptosporidiosis

Children should never be allowed to walk barefoot or in open sandals in areas where there may be raw sewage used in sprinkler systems in hotel grounds.

Make sure children are toileted before using the hotel pool – and also make sure babies and children do not use swimming pools if they are wearing soiled nappies or swimsuits.

Encourage children to shower before and after using the pool – and make sure they wash their hands after using the WC.

If there is an outbreak of holiday sickness and diarrhoea at the hotel, keep babies and children out of the swimming pool until the source of the illness is known.

If your child has a stomach upset, keep them out of the pool – and also encourage children not to swallow pool water when they are swimming.

Making No Win No Fee Claims for Cryptosporidium

The tour operator First Choice – which manages Holiday Village resorts across the Mediterranean – has said that the current trend for deliberately contaminating hotel swimming pools with human waste (known as “logging”) is beyond its control.

Under the Package Travel Regulations 1992, tour operators have a legal duty to ensure that holiday accommodation is of a reasonable standard and is safe and well maintained – including making sure that swimming pools are well managed and the water is checked regularly and disinfected properly.

Holidaymakers who book package holidays are automatically protected by the Package Travel Regulations 1992 – an ATOL certificate is issued at the time of booking.

If you wish to claim compensation for Cryptosporidium from a tour operator, collect as much evidence as you can, including any correspondence about your illness with the tour operator – and photographs of the state of the hotel pool and records of any medical treatment. Also keep receipts for out-of-pocket expenses, such as taxis to a doctor or hospital, or receipts for over-the-counter medicines.

Once you have obtained a diagnosis from a GP, Duncan Lewis Holiday Claims Solicitors will be able to advise you further on making a no win no fee claim for Cryptosporidium compensation.

Duncan Lewis Personal Injury Solicitors – Holiday Accident & Illness Claims

Holiday Accident & Illness Claims – including no win no fee Cryptosporidium claims – are covered by the area of law known as personal injury.

Duncan Lewis is a leading firm of personal injury solicitors – and our Holiday Claims Solicitors can advise holidaymakers who fall ill as a result of another party’s negligence on how to make a no win no fee claim for holiday illness compensation, including compensation for

• Cryptosporidium
• Campylobacter
• Salmonella
• E.coli
• Giardiosis
• Norovirus

and other holiday illnesses.

For expert legal advice on no win no fee Holiday Accident & Illness Claims – including Cryptosporidium Compensation Claims – contact Duncan Lewis Holiday Claims Solicitors on 020 7923 4020.