Spanish This is a favorite place for many tourists who come from similar countries England or Ireland. Many people leaving this area find our climate, beaches and evenings an ideal habitat to spend a few days of rest and fun. However, many people arriving in Spain this summer have experienced serious setbacks.

As reported by European Center for Disease Prevention and Controlhundreds of tourists who came to Spain from Ireland and the UK were infected with a parasite that usually causes stomach problems.

The affected travelers arrived in our country between mid-August and late September.. Many of them were sent to the city of Salou, in Tarragona province. ECDC is now investigating the situation.

Infections are increasing due to Cryptosporidium worldwide

Spain has again become one of the countries most chosen as a tourist destination, especially by countries such as England or Ireland. However, a large group of tourists coming from this region found their trip complicated due to a strange infection: cryptosporidiosis.

A parasite, called Cryptosporidium and known to cause very unpleasant diarrhoea, had infected most of the British and Irish passing through Spain. in the final stretch of last summer. This is indicated by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

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The report produced by this organization provided information from the Irish and British health services, which began to link these infections to travel to Spain. This institution has also determined that There has been an increase in cases in the Netherlands and Luxembourgalthough it has not been stated where the infection came from.

On 13 October, the Irish Health Protection Surveillance Center published a press release warning of an increase in cases cryptosporidiosis in people returning from areas such as Salou. So far this year, 656 cases have been reported. Apart from that, there has been a rebound since the end of August.

Between August 16 and the end of September, laboratories in the UK confirmed a total of 2,411 infections, of which 2,032 were in the UK.. Of all the cases, 394 provided information about their travel. And more specifically, 96 indicated that they had passed through Spain, including the Canary Islands or the Balearic Islands. However, cases of infection due to this parasite are not only increasing among tourists passing through our country, but are also increasing throughout the world.

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control reports that “this may be due to a combination of travel-related factors and extreme weather conditions affecting southern Europe this summer.” The Old Continent has in recent months been hit by heat waves, fires and heavy rain accompanied by constant flooding.

What is cryptosporidiosis and what are the consequences?

Cryptosporidiosis is an intestinal infection caused by a protozoan parasite called Cryptosporidium. The main symptoms it causes are stomach pain and diarrhea.. The most common way to become infected is through consuming contaminated water or food or through contact with people or animals that have previously been infected.

Transmission is fecal-oral, through ingestion of infectious oocysts.. These Cryptosporidium oocysts can survive for months in damp areas or in water and overcome very adverse environmental conditions, both hot and cold. In addition, this material is usually resistant to the most common disinfectants such as chlorine.

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In healthy people, the effects are not very serious and usually disappear within days, always less than two weeks. However, serious problems arise in people with weakened immune systems. Cryptosporidiosis is considered a parasitic disease.

As reported by ECDC, swallowing around 10 to 30 oocysts can cause infection. In healthy individuals, this process may be asymptomatic. However, the most common symptom is diarrhea which resolves spontaneously within a few weeks. However, patients with immunodeficiency can experience profuse watery diarrhea which in extreme cases can be life-threatening.