‘It was as painful as childbirth’: Victims of cryptosporidium-contaminated water crisis reveal what it’s really like to be struck by a stomach parasite

Victims of Devon’s contaminated water crisis say they are left with a stomach so painful one woman even compared it to childbirth.

The mysterious illness is believed to be linked to cryptosporidium, a parasitic bug that can enter water supplies through contaminated feces.

Health authorities have discovered at least 22 cases of cryptosporidium infection in the town of Brixham, home to around 17,000 people.

South West Water has now told residents of the town of Boohay, Kingswear, Roseland and north-east Paignton to boil their drinking water to avoid the faecal-borne parasite which is believed to have infiltrated water supplies.

But for some residents the advice came too late. They had been struggling with diarrhea and other gastrointestinal complaints such as cramps for days.

Brixham resident Lisa Horswill even compared the pain to childbirth.

‘It’s worst when you’ve just eaten. Then you are drained by the diarrhea and you suffer from stomach cramps, which are so painful, just like during childbirth,” she said. innews.

She added that although South West Water had offered them £15 in compensation, the family had already spent more on bottled water.

Another resident, Michaela Lewis, said her five-year-old daughter had been experiencing symptoms of a cryptosporidium infection for 12 days.

‘What does this kind of thing do to the stomach of such a young person? It can’t be good for young children,” she said.

Locals also told MailOnline that they started experiencing symptoms about two weeks ago.

Pensioner Kathy Hudson, 67, said: ‘I have been ill since last week with cramps, diarrhoea, nausea and dizziness. My daughter-in-law also got sick.

‘I don’t want to know what’s in the water I drank, but now they say you can’t wash your hands, can you take a shower? What’s it going to do to you?’

To make matters worse, Kathy says she hasn’t been able to buy bottled water as panic buyers have cleared the shelves at the city’s supermarkets.

She added: “There is no more water in the shops in the city.”

Brixham resident Meg Dew said: ‘My 62-year-old mother called me about half an hour ago, she has a bad stomach and diarrhoea.

‘My friends have been sick since the Pirate Festival (May 4 to 6), I didn’t even know there was something wrong with the water until this morning.

‘South West Water has to sort it out, the bills are high, but for nothing.’

Schools in the area have now been forced to close because they cannot provide water to students.

South West Water initially claimed it was not the fault of the treatment works, but has since retraced its steps – sparking anger from local Tory MP Anthony Mangnall, who said the initial failure to act was ‘hugely frustrating’ Has been.

Dr. Lincoln Sargeant, director of public health for Torbay, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he is ‘optimistic’ about the outbreak being under control.

He said: ‘This was reported as an outbreak on Tuesday morning and on Wednesday we had a credible source that it was likely to be a reservoir serving the TQ5 postcode such as Brixham and neighboring areas.

“South West Water has investigated and continues to test. This is of course an ongoing situation, but we are quite confident at this point that the primary source would have stopped given the boil water notice and the ongoing investigation and restoration of the water supply there.

“What we’re focusing on now is making sure we don’t get any spread from those first cases.”

Dr. Sargeant added that the full picture of how the cryptosporidium entered the water supply will come after the probes are completed.

‘The final answers to that (why the disease affected this area) will come when South West Water can do their investigation.

‘Cryptosporidium occurs in the environment. If there is a lot of rain it can sometimes enter the water system, but usually it is picked up through rigorous testing and water treatment.

‘We are very optimistic (it is under control). Some of the key measures, such as identifying the primary source, are underway.”

Hundreds of residents are believed to be experiencing a range of symptoms, including watery diarrhea, stomach pain, nausea or vomiting, low-grade fever and loss of appetite.

A spokesperson for South West Water said: ‘Customers in Alston and the Hillhead area of ​​Brixham are being advised to boil their drinking water before consuming it, following new test results for cryptosporidium.

‘We are issuing this notice following small traces of the organism identified last night and this morning.

‘We are working with the UK Health Security Agency and other public health partners to urgently investigate and eliminate the source.

‘We apologize for any inconvenience caused and will continue to keep customers and businesses informed. Bottled water stations will be set up in the affected areas as soon as possible.”

Doctors technically call a cryptosporidium infection cryptosporidiosis.

Patients often have to tolerate these symptoms for two weeks before they finally disappear from their system.

But some patients may experience longer periods of illness in people with weakened immune systems, such as cancer patients.

Victims may also experience periods of false hope where their symptoms disappear for a few days, leading them to think they have finally gotten over the infection, only for it to return.

Most people with cryptosporidiosis are not offered treatment and are instead told to drink plenty of fluids and minimize contact with other people while waiting for the symptoms to pass.

People are usually infected through contact with feces containing the parasite, either human or animal, which then enters their mouths.

These infected feces often come into contact with humans through contamination of lakes, streams, swimming pools and, as appears to be the case in Devon, water supplies.

People can also get it from caring for people infected with the parasite, especially young children.

The risk of water supplies becoming contaminated is greater after periods of heavy rainfall and when animals are giving birth, such as during lambing season.

Other possible sources of contamination include contact with contaminated milk, or from vegetables that have been fertilized with contaminated animal manure and not thoroughly washed.

Patients with the infection are told to stay away from work and school until they are symptom-free for at least two days, to avoid passing the bug to others.

Because crypto can survive in feces for a long time, patients are asked not to swim until two weeks after their diarrhea has stopped.

This includes both natural bodies of water and swimming pools, as traces of infected dried feces can wash down an infected swimmer’s anus.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), infected people can shed up to 100 million cryptosporidium germs in one bowel movement.

And swallowing just 10 is enough to make you sick.