The closer June 25 and August 2, the more often articles appear that one should not swim in fountains. And if, despite the hot weather, few people want to swim in the fountain, then school graduates and especially paratroopers have created their own specific traditions associated with swimming in fountains. On May 2, 2018, teenagers had a bath in the city fountain of the city of Smolensk. Of course, the weather was hot +25, and the children decided to cool off.

But swimming in fountains is dangerous for health, let's see why.

Read our article and tell your family what an ordinary childish prank can turn into.

The dangers of fountains

Fountains - decorate many squares and parks, pleasantly cool in the hot summer, and splashes fall on the face. Of course, the fountains are cleaned, washed, filled with ordinary tap water. It seems that the fountain is no different from water, for example, in a water tower.

But the fountain is fraught with many dangers.

• Fountains stand in the open air and often serve as a place to cool homeless animals. Have you ever thought how many bacteria can be on the fur of a stray dog ​​or cat. Under the cover of night, a person without a fixed place of residence will decide to wash in the fountain. And in the morning the fountain will again sparkle with water. Obviously, the water in the fountains is regularly updated, but the ban on swimming in the fountains is due precisely to the fact that the composition of the water does not pass daily control for the content of harmful substances and bacteria.
• The second danger is the design of the fountains. There are many sharp objects and details hidden under the water. When jumping into the fountain, you can get on a protruding pin or a broken bottle. Open wound and access to all bacteria that are in the water.
• Another point that lovers do not take into account to freshen up in the city fountains. Many modern structures are equipped with color music and electricity passes below. What a damaged wire in water can lead to, even writing is scary.

What is found in fountains?

Periodically, sanitary services conduct an examination of the water from the fountain. Below you can see what the research says:

• intestinal infections;
• causative agents of skin diseases;
• typhoid fever;
• hepatitis A;
• herpes;
• enterovirus and many others.

The water in the fountains does not contain chlorine and is in no way protected from the growth of all bacteria.

Picking up something nasty in the fountain is a matter of seconds, and further treatment will take many months.

Fountains and alcohol

Of course, most often the desire to swim in the fountain arises in the head of a person who has consumed alcohol. In a drunken mind, the thought arises that it is necessary to cool off. But for a drunk person, the fountain also carries an additional threat, in addition to those listed above.

Impaired coordination of movements can lead to the fact that a drunk person simply slips and falls in the fountain. The state of alcoholic intoxication will not allow you to call for help.

In addition, drinking alcohol in hot weather is not recommended, because it increases the load on the heart and circulatory system.

Do not wash your hands in the fountain, do not cool your feet. A fountain is not a pool. Better just sit down and relax. Take care of your health.

Although most of the summer is over, the whole of August is still ahead, which will bring traditional summer entertainment - swimming, relaxing by the ponds and barbecues.

According to folk omens, after Ilyin's day (August 2) it is no longer possible to swim, but most often, it is by August that the water in rivers and lakes warms up so much that it is simply impossible not to swim. Just don't swim anywhere.

What threatens a bather in dirty water

A beach filled with people, joyful children's cries and heads emerging from a pond here and there - such a picture can be found on a hot day on any city and Moscow suburban beach. And it seems to us that if so many people trust this place, and even with children, then the water in the local pond is also safe. But the abundance of vacationers is by no means an indicator of the purity of the reservoir.

Often, even standing in front of the “Swimming is prohibited!” sign, swimming enthusiasts still dive into the water, especially without thinking that it was installed for a reason. So, what is the risk of contracting a negligent bather who ignores warnings.

Entero viral infections . This is a group of acute infectious diseases caused by intestinal viruses. Perhaps the most common "infection" that can be picked up in a dirty pond. Viruses enter the human body with water. The best protection is to ensure that water does not get into your mouth while swimming. The main symptoms of infection are diarrhea, fever and nausea.

Many open resources on the Internet are listed possible diseases and such terrible disease like cholera. It seems that almost everyone was scared of her in childhood, so that children would in no case swallow water from the river. This is a dangerous intestinal infection that enters the body through an open wound or a sip of contaminated water. During illness, a person can lose up to 40 liters of fluid per day, which can lead to fatal dehydration. But do not panic too much - according to doctors, it is impossible to get cholera in an ordinary reservoir near Moscow.

When is it time to see a doctor

The doctors themselves say that in case of any ailment after a rest on the water, it is best not to risk your health and immediately contact a specialist. Some serious infections can be very harmless at first and can be confused with the common cold.

"In no case should you self-medicate. If you have any symptoms - sore throat, fever or nausea, you need to see a doctor," says Sofia Rusanova, deputy chief physician for the medical unit of the Infectious Clinical Hospital No. 1.

These symptoms after swimming may indicate that an infection has entered the body:

• Heat;
• nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea;
• Strong headache;
• Itchy rashes on the skin;
• redness of the eyes;
• Stomach ache.

Signs of dirty water

• Lake, river or pond bad smell, and the banks of the reservoir are swamped;
• Landfills, factories are located near the reservoir, pipes of unknown purpose are laid nearby;
• Ducks swimming in the pond are a signal to refuse to swim in this place;
• Be wary of stagnant ponds and lakes with stagnant, warm water;
• Hoof prints on the shore are a sign that horses, cows and other livestock are drinking from the reservoir. They can be carriers of very serious diseases.

Where can you swim

Now, without risk to health, you can swim in ten metropolitan reservoirs. These places are checked and controlled by the department of Rospotrebnadzor:

• "Big City Pond", "School Lake", "Black Lake" in Zelenograd;
• "Troparevo" in the southwestern district;
• "Meshcherskoye" in the western district;
• "Serebryany Bor-2", "Serebryany Bor-3" in the Northwestern District.

In addition, there are 46 equipped recreation areas without swimming in the capital.

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With the onset of the summer heat, this question becomes relevant again for many.

On the one hand, swimming in the river and especially in the sea has a positive effect on our health. But on the other hand, it can bring a lot of dangers and diseases, since the current state of the reservoirs leaves much to be desired, to say the least.

What threatens cold water

Swimming in a pond or river on a hot summer day is a very pleasant experience. The fierce sun is scorching, and at this time we are immersed in cool water, and now the heat does not seem so painful. Life is Beautiful! That's just no matter how much you have to pay for the minutes of bliss too expensive. Communication with nature today is almost always associated with danger. Water is the main source of trouble, several threats come from it at once.

For an organism unaccustomed to active water procedures, cold water can be a serious test. If you are suffering from diseases of cardio-vascular system, a sharp temperature drop will cause very unpleasant sensations. In this case, it is recommended to gradually accustom the body to cold water, and in no case rush into it with a run.

Another danger is also associated with the temperature of the water - these are convulsions. A cramp paralyzes any part of the body, as they say, in the most unexpected places. You will make a big mistake if you panic and rush to swim to the shore - fear and tension will only increase the convulsions. It is better to call someone for help and try to stretch the cramped place. By acting calmly, you can get out of the water faster.

In the northern regions, reservoirs do not have time to warm up properly during the day, and the water in them remains cold even in summer. Being in it for more than twenty minutes, you can catch a bad cold.

Consequences of bad ecology

Today, due to the unfavorable epidemiological situation, swimming in many reservoirs is prohibited. That's just, despite the prohibitions, many both swam in them and continue to swim.

In places not allowed for swimming, you can find mountains of garbage left by "vacationers" and gasoline stains in car parking lots (most often - directly at the reservoir itself). Such an attitude towards nature leads to a catastrophic deterioration in the sanitary and epidemiological situation and the spread of infections. In such filthy places, swimming is not only disgusting, but also dangerous. Water procedures in polluted reservoirs can lead to all sorts of troubles. Here are the most common ones.

* Allergies and even chemical burns;

* intestinal infections (dysentery, salmonellosis, typhoid fever, and in rare cases - cholera and viral hepatitis A.);

* inflammatory diseases vulva and vagina in girls and women;

* fractures of the spine and other types of injuries that can be obtained when diving in unspecified places.

Bacteria and sunburn

Everyone knows that there are many bacteria in the water that can cause infection. But when we are hot and most of all we want to plunge into the water, we prefer to forget about it. In the meantime, you need to be on the lookout! Cholera and dysentery, digestive disorders, skin irritations, inflammations inner ear- all these diseases can be acquired through water. Therefore, you can’t swallow it while swimming, and after it you definitely need to take a shower.

Listeriosis, leptospirosis and various contact dermatitis are among the diseases that are especially often transmitted when swimming in water bodies. And when swallowing water contaminated with sewage and feces, you can get a whole bunch of intestinal infections and helminths (worms).

Listeriosis is an infection caused by the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. It is characterized by damage to the lymphoid tissue and the nervous system, the development of specific formations in organs, mainly in the liver.

Leptospirosis is characterized by symptoms of general intoxication, damage to the kidneys and nervous system. In severe cases, jaundice occurs hemorrhagic syndrome, acute kidney failure and meningitis.

Be also careful that after active swimming and splashing in the river there is no water left in the ears - even a drop of it leads to serious consequences: suppuration, wild pains and meningitis. It is recommended to use special earplugs while swimming. But if the ears still hurt, it is necessary, without delay, to consult an otolaryngologist.

A careless bather can also get a lot of trouble from the sun. Need to be protected from heat stroke and do not dry out in the sun - drops, like lenses, collect rays, and as a result, the skin can become covered with painful blisters. Therefore, after bathing, immediately dry yourself with a towel. It is especially important to ensure that children do not neglect this rule.

On the benefits of entertainment

And yet, despite the above, it is fair to say that bathing can be beneficial to health. But only - in specially designated places and in compliance with all the rules!

Since childhood, we have all heard about the benefits of hardening. This is both a natural gymnastics of the vessels and capillaries of the body, and an improvement in hydrofiltration on the surface of the skin. Bathing, especially in the sea, increases resistance to colds, stimulates blood circulation, the activity of the heart muscle, improves metabolism and has a beneficial effect on nervous system. It is believed that sea bathing is more beneficial, since sea water has an additional complex of healing properties.

It is recommended to start bathing from 3 minutes at a water temperature of 16-17 ° C, with natural heating of the water, gradually increasing the duration of the procedure. If the water temperature in the reservoir rises to 22-23 ° C, then the duration of bathing can be increased to 15 minutes. For swimming to be beneficial, certain rules must be followed.

1. Do not swim in cold water immediately after vigorous exercise;

2. dive into cold water follows gradually;

3. in the water you need to actively move, swim or dive;

4. after the end of the procedure, dry yourself with a towel and rub it.

After hardening water procedures, especially after swimming in a river or sea, active movement is necessary - running, jumping, doing some simple exercises. So the body will quickly warm up. After 2-3 years of preparation healthy people may think about the highest form of hardening - year-round swimming.

Swimming is prohibited!

As for the precautions for swimming, they are quite simple. You can swim near settlements only in those reservoirs that are approved for this by the sanitary and epidemiological services. It should also be borne in mind that such a check is carried out every year before the start of the swimming season. That is, the same body of water can be recognized as suitable for swimming in one season, and swimming there will be prohibited next year.

For reservoirs "in nature" - ponds, rivers and lakes that are far from settlements, the following rules can be applied: if it is a stagnant reservoir, make sure that there are no waterfowl on it. If they are, this is a sure sign that swimming is still not worth it. As for the rivers, it would be quite useful to find out what is happening upstream - whether industrial waste is dumped there.

The main reason for infections from swimming in water bodies is ignoring the most obvious hygiene rules. It often happens that vacationers know that swimming in this reservoir is prohibited. But that doesn't stop them. If you do get into such water, try not to swallow it in any case, and after you get out, take a shower as soon as possible. And even better - choose specialized beaches and safe pools reserved for recreation for water procedures and swimming.

Mostly in the water they catch a variety of intestinal infections and skin diseases, which are called by all possible types microorganisms.

Summer is the peak of the incidence of such infections in middle lane. Indeed, protozoa, pathogenic fungi, helminths (worms), various bacteria live in beach sand.

Mikhail Lebedev, Medical Consultant, Center for Molecular Diagnostics (CMD), Central Research Institute of Epidemiology, Rospotrebnadzor

We know that "before everyone was swimming, and there was nothing." If you think so too, just look at the list of surprises waiting for you in the water.

Giardiasis

Giardia are the simplest microorganisms, of which there are quite a few around us. In places where feces and sewage enter the water, there are even more of them. They cling to us if we drink contaminated water or swallow it while bathing. Nothing happens immediately after the swim, the first signs appear after 1-2 weeks.

Symptoms are typical for all intestinal infections: diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain. The danger is severe dehydration. Treated with antibiotics and diet.

Cryptosporidiosis

Rotaviruses

Who once had rotavirus (aka intestinal flu), he hates fast diets. Diarrhea, vomiting, fever and complete absence forces - signs of an infection that can be caught in the water. There are vaccinations for the virus, but there is no specific treatment, which means that you can only endure and mitigate the symptoms.

Hepatitis

Hepatitis A and E are viral infections that are transmitted through drinking water. Basically, of course, residents of hot countries suffer from them, but we also suffer from them. About what hepatitis is and how to protect yourself from them, we already.

Cholera

This is special dangerous infection and one of the world's global problems. It seems that cholera is ill only in hot countries with a low sanitation culture, but in fact, cholera pathogens are regularly found in Russia. Epidemiological situation on cholera in the world in 2005-2014. In fact, cholera in most cases is treated quickly and easily, and its main danger is dehydration due to severe diarrhea.

Dysentery, salmonellosis, escherichiosis

These are different diseases with different pathogens, but with generally similar symptoms: diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, and fever. There are slight differences between them, but they are not fundamental. The main thing is that all these diseases are dangerous in the same way that cholera is dangerous: dehydration and all its serious consequences. They are also treated according to the same scheme: restoration of water balance, antibiotics and intestinal sorbents.

Leptospirosis

dangerous bacterial infection, which is transmitted from animals, affects the liver and kidneys. It starts with a headache high temperature, stomach ache. Other symptoms are red eyes and jaundice. It can end very sadly. Bacteria enter the blood more easily through wounds and mucous membranes.

Bather's itch

Other infections

These are not all diseases that are transmitted through water. In the middle lane it is difficult to meet typhoid fever or the causative agent of trachoma (this is a disease that affects the eyes). But in warm regions they are in considerable quantities. Worm infestations are rarely transmitted when swimming, but in dirty waters there is a chance to pick them up.

What can not get infected in the water

One of the most common horror stories, which many continue to believe in, is the chance to get gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia or others while swimming, Mikhail Lebedev notes. But this is a myth. If you just swim and don't have sex in the water, specific infections don't get infected.

STIs are transmitted only from person to person and it is through sexual contact. Moreover, it is impossible to catch hepatitis B or HIV infection when bathing.

Mikhail Lebedev

Fear number two - to catch a cold something, such as kidneys. This fear has little basis. Our body temperature is maintained from the inside, and if the body is supercooled from summer bathing, then the whole body. Hypothermia can become an additional factor for the development of diseases, but definitely not the main one.

Without comorbidity, this is quite difficult. But hypothermia when bathing can be one of the reasons for the development of cystitis.

Alexey Moskalenko, pediatrician at DOC+ service

How to swim without getting sick

All the horrors described above do not mean that it is not necessary to climb into the water at all. It is enough to follow the rules of bathing.

The place for swimming should be clean at least visually, and even on the shore. Still water is much more dangerous than running water. Do not go into the water among the thickets of swamp plants, knee-deep in mud.

If you want to swim in an artificial reservoir where the water is renewed slowly (in a pond or a ditch) and in which a lot of people bathe, then it’s better to find another place: too many infections are transmitted from person to person through close contact, when it’s warm and wet around. Do not swallow water when swimming.

The sand on the beach is not treated with disinfectants, therefore, at a depth of 5–6 centimeters, it is the most favorable environment for various microorganisms (mainly pathogens of fungal infections). Wet sand is especially dangerous.

Mikhail Lebedev

You should not build castles and dig up to your head in the sand if there are wounds on the skin.

After swimming, take a shower if there is one on the beach, and if there is none, wash your hands, face and feet. No clean water? Take wet wipes and liquid bottles with you. Take a shower when you get there.

In any case, remove wet swimwear and swimming trunks, change into dry clothes while you rest between swims.

How to understand that you can not swim

When you see control signs near a river or pond, do not swim there.

Remember that city fountains, in which water circulates in a closed system, from which animals drink and in which the homeless bathe, is a very, very bad place to swim.

What threatens swimming in dubious reservoirs?

On a summer day, it is always nice to take a dip in cool water and hide from the heat. However, people often forget about safety measures and swim in places not intended for this.

What threatens swimming in dubious reservoirs?

A variety of living organisms breed in the pond, which can lead to various diseases. So, if a person has cuts or scratches, then the risk of getting leptospirosis increases. There is also the possibility of contracting cryptosporidiosis, an E. coli commonly associated with food poisoning.

Through contaminated water, enterovirus infection, helminthic diseases can be transmitted. There are cases of hepatitis A, which can occur if you accidentally swallow water.

In the summer, the most common danger that awaits lovers of splashing in forbidden waters is “bather's itch” (cercariasis). Typical manifestations of the disease include itching and red blisters on the skin (a few hours after bathing). As experts explain, pathogens this disease are the larvae of duck worms that are in the water. Bather's itch is an unpleasant disease that requires long-term treatment. Especially if the larvae managed to penetrate into the blood and then into the lungs.

According to doctors, bathers in such reservoirs are also threatened with streptococcal and staphylococcal infections, inflammatory diseases of the genital organs (vaginosis, colpitis, cervicitis), cystitis, eczema.