Has anyone suffered "snail fever"?

[Impulse]

I realise snail fever is slang for the proper word,scialiosis or something to that effect.I was reading a medical journal about it and it rathered depressed me.It is a parasite that lives in a snail in fresh water and will attach itself to humans in the water,go thru the skin and travel throughout the body and when it is released in fecal matter(from the human)the eggs will hatch and use the snail as a host,and the cycle continues. They showed a diagram of a female parasite and it was rather ghastly looking.Hate to think it could be inside of us.Anyway,besides rice pattys it can be found in pools. It has symtoms similar to malaria and can be cured with certain drugs,the problem is getting a correct diagnosis. Oh,they said you can prevent it by using deet after you leave the water.If I ever get to LOS to use the pool at vt5 Ill have to remeber the deet as well as the sunblock.Anyone familiar with this parasite?

Anyway,besides rice pattys (paddies) it can be found in pools.

If I ever get to LOS to use the pool at vt5 Ill have to remeber the deet as well as the sunblock.Anyone familiar with this parasite?

The pools they are talking about are probably stagnant water.
I don't know the mechanics of how this parasite lives but I would have thought that they would not be found in swimming pools which are properly cleaned/maintained and whose water is changed regularly?

I hope there are no snails in any swimming pool I use !!

[Impulse]

It was definitely swimming pools in south east asia.Thats why they recommended deet immediately after swimming.If one were to pee in the pool,that would release the parasite. Im hoping that it is uncommonly found this way and is mostly found in stagnant waters where snails are.

Bilharzia is a human disease caused by parasitic worms called Schistosomes. Over one billion humans are at risk worldwide and approximately 300 millions are infected. Bilharzia is common in the tropics where ponds, streams and irrigation canals harbor bilharzia-transmitting snails. Parasite larvae develop in snails from which they infect humans, their definitive host, in which they mature and reproduce.

It is HIGHLY unlikely if not impossible that you would contract this disease in the ocean or in chlorinated swimming pools.

If you ever saw a book on tropical medicine, you would never leave home.
When travelling on a canal, always keep your mouth closed.

Don't Drink the Water

There are a number of ways to prevent the disease and include the following:

Avoid swimming or wading in fresh water.
Drink safe water.
Bath water should be heated for five minutes at 150 degrees. Water held in a storage tank for at least 48 hours should be safe for showering.
Vigorous towel-drying after an accidental, brief water exposure may help prevent the parasite from penetrating the skin, but this method should not be relied upon to prevent exposure and disease.

Apparently, it ranks second behind malaria in terms of its social, economic, and public health impact in tropical and subtropical regions of the world.