Healthy and Safe Swimming Week — May 22–28, 2017
Weekly / May 19, 2017 / 66(19);493
Healthy and Safe Swimming Week highlights measures that swimmers, parents of young swimmers, aquatic facility (e.g., swimming pool and support infrastructure) operators, residential pool or hot tub/spa owners, beach managers, and public health officials can take to maximize the health benefits of water-based physical activity while minimizing the risk for recreational water–associated illness and injury. A public health communications toolkit is available at https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/observances/hss-week/response-tools-public-health.html.
The theme of this year’s observance is Diarrhea and Swimming Don’t Mix. Cryptosporidium, a parasite that causes profuse, watery diarrhea, has emerged as the leading etiology of recreational water–associated outbreaks, particularly those associated with aquatic facilities (1). This issue of MMWR includes a report on Cryptosporidium molecular characterization, highlighting its utility in investigating these outbreaks (2).
In July 2016, CDC released the 2016 Model Aquatic Health Code (MAHC) (https://www.cdc.gov/mahc/editions/current.html). This national guidance can be voluntarily adopted by state and local jurisdictions to minimize the risk for public aquatic facility–associated illness and injury. The MAHC guidance reflects biennial input from public health professionals and other stakeholders through the Council for the MAHC (https://www.cmahc.org).
References
- Hlavsa MC, Roberts VA, Kahler AM, et al. Outbreaks of illness associated with recreational water—United States, 2011–2012. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2015;64:668–72. PubMed
- Hlavsa MC, Roellig DM, Seabolt MH, et al. Using molecular characterization to support investigations of aquatic facility–associated outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis—Alabama, Arizona, and Ohio, 2016. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2017;66:493–7.
Suggested citation for this article: Healthy and Safe Swimming Week — May 22–28, 2017. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2017;66:493. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6619a1.
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