It’s time to dig out the swim suits, sunscreen and beach towels and head to the pool. Swimming lessons, swim team, frolicking in the pool with friends, lap swimming and leisurely poolside chats are hallmarks of summer for families all over the country. As this fun season begins, we have some safety tips to offer.
Make sure your children have adult supervision while they are in the water.
Children ages one to four have the highest drowning rates of all age groups, according to a May 17 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). For every child who drowns, another four received emergency care for injuries.
In addition… READ MORE >>
Showering before swimming helps keep swimming healthy for everyone in the pool.
As the weather heats up and thoughts turn to swimming and cooling off in the pool, the Water Quality & Health Council is highlighting a contradictory finding from our recent swimmer hygiene survey. We discovered that although the vast majority of American adults (93 percent) would never reuse someone else’s bath water, over 40 percent skip the shower before entering the swimming pool. Can you say “communal bathing”?
For decades, public health authorities have recommended the pre-swim shower. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urges people to shower with soap before swimming as part of Three Steps for All Swimmers to Protect Against Recreational Water Illnesses. Yet, our survey found 44 percent of people do not believe it is necessary to shower before going in the… READ MORE >>
Certain Diamond Pet Foods products have been recalled due to contamination with the bacterium Salmonella Infantis
CDC podcast on this topic
At least fourteen people in nine states have been infected with Salmonella Infantis as a result of contact with contaminated dry dog food, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Although no deaths have been reported, five of the patients were hospitalized. Those infected range in age from less than one year to 82 years old. No dogs have been reported sickened.
CDC determined that all of the ill individuals had handled dry Diamond Pet Foods produced in one Gaston, South Carolina, plant. A list of products recalled can be found on this Food & Drug Administration (FDA) website and on the Diamond Pet website. Pet owners can learn how to… READ MORE >>
Rocky Ford cantaloupe being planted at Hirakata Farms, Colorado (Photo courtesy of BCDemocratOnline.com)
Spring cantaloupe planting is under way in Colorado, and following a tragic foodborne disease outbreak last year, growers are determined to regain consumer confidence. In 2011, over 30 people died and at least 146 were sickened during a Listeria outbreak traced to contaminated cantaloupe (see January 20, 2012 blog). Jensen Farms, the source of the Listeria outbreak, is located near Holly, Colorado, about 100 miles east of the Rocky Ford region, which was initially identified in news reports as the “epicenter” of the outbreak. Those reports took an economic and reputational toll on all Rocky Ford cantaloupe growers. This spring, as cantaloupe seeds are being pressed into Colorado soil, growers are taking aggressive measures to shore up their practices to avoid a repeat of last season’s… READ MORE >>
This downloadable poster for healthcare providers is available on the CDC website in English or Spanish. Would you consider presenting it to your healthcare provider?
It’s a well-known fact that hand-washing is one of the most important measures for reducing the spread of infection. Yet, healthcare workers, of all people, often fail to wash their hands! One potential approach to this problem is to encourage patients, before submitting to treatment, to confirm verbally that doctors and nurses have indeed washed their hands. But a new pilot study published in the Journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology finds many patients are reluctant to question the hand hygiene of medical personnel.
According to an article on the study in Infection Control Today, patients in an Australian hospital were provided a brochure giving them… READ MORE >>
