A rare, late-summer opportunity to swim cost some bathers at the 26 Mile gravel pit, who developed severe cases of “swimmer’s itch” last weekend.
The skin irritation also known as “cercarial dermatitis,” is caused by the trematode parasite, which migrates from snails to migrating aquatic birds and sometimes mistakenly bites into humans.
Mario Benassi, 15, was covered with red bumps after four swims Saturday. “It was pretty bad. Everybody was jumping up and down we itched so badly. I couldn’t sleep. Every 10 seconds I had to itch somewhere.”
Becky Hill, who lives a short distance from the popular swimming hole, said swimmers started being noticeably affected in late July. “All the neighborhood kids were playing in the water. One day, six of them were suffering from the itch.”
Swimmers at the hole have developed the itch in previous years, Hill said. “It seems worse this year.”
Hill covered her two daughters with sunblock lotion as a barrier, made sure they dried off immediately, and bathed when they got home, practices that seem to work as barriers.
Benassi said he swam at the spot the past four years and has developed the itch before, but it’s usually gone after a few hours. “This time it was insane.”
Internet sources say the parasites are most prevalent after bodies of water warm. Benassi said at least 20 people were swimming at 26 Mile Saturday, as temperatures crept into the 80s.
“That’s the pond everyone goes to, but it’s never warm enough this time of year to go in.”