Just when you thought it was safe to start drinking the water again, Brits are warned they could get cryptosporidium from having sex.
As total of 77 cases of the parasite, which normally infects people through the ingestion of tainted faeces, have been recorded in recent weeks.
And while drinking water, as is the case in the major outbreak in Devon, and interaction with infected animals are the biggest sources of infection, further cases could be spread by sexual activity.
Sexual contact is one of the more unusual routes that cryptosporidium can transmit from person to person.
Cryptosporidium infection causes victims to suffer days of diarrhoea, vomiting and agonising stomach cramps, with one sufferer even comparing them to ‘childbirth’.
UK officials have not issued any specific advice regarding avoiding cryptosporidium infection through sexual activity but acknowledge its a risk
Locals in Brixham, Boohay, Kingswear, Roseland and north-east Paignton in Devon were all told to boil water as a precaution
While the outbreaks in Devon and from animal experience farms in England are believed to be linked to animal faeces it is also possible for people to transmit to each other.
This normally occurs thorough not washing hands thoroughly when caring for someone, like a parent caring and cleaning a child infected with cryptosporidium, or food preparation by an infected person.
However, as bizarre as it may sound, sex is also a risk, even weeks after a person stops showing any symptoms.
Part of the danger is that people who’ve had the bug can remain infectious for up to two weeks after their symptoms disappear.
Such is the threat that in some parts of the word, like the US, people infected with cryptosporidium are asked to abstain from all sexual activity for at least 14-days after their last symptoms.
Cryptosporidium is typically passed this via amorous activities that combine penetrative oral and anal sex, or specific sex acts involving the anus such as anal fingering or rimming.
Rimming, also known as anilingus, is a term for oral stimulation of the anus using the tongue or the lips.
Advice from US health authorities urges people to avoid sexual activity with those who have been experienced with cryptosporidium symptoms like diarrhoea for at least two weeks.
Other similar advice says the potentially infected should ensure they wash both their anus, penis and any sex toy involved in such sexual activity thoroughly with soap and water, both before and after.
International advice notes men who have sex with men have an increased risk of becoming infected by cryptosporidium via sexual activity.
Similar advice exists for people who’ve had cryptosporidium infections and swimming pools.
Cryptosporidium is chlorine-resistant so even swimming in pools isn’t a guarantee against infection (stock image)
This is because traces do the chlorine-resistant parasite can persist in dried traces of poo that then wash off when the previously infected person enters the pool, potentially infecting others who have the water enter their mouths.
UK health officials told MailOnline they have not issued any specific advice regarding avoiding sexual activity for anyone affected by the current outbreak.
But the UK Health Security Agency does acknowledge exposure to human faces through sexual contact as a potential infection route.
Source: Mail Online
