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  Health, Wellness & Happiness  Travel to Greece 

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  • How to stay healthy and safe. Healthy and safe swimming is easy with CDC's simple tips!
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Healthy pools and other places where we swim in chlorinated water don’t have a strong chemical smell. If you smell “chlorine” at the place you swim, you are probably smelling chloramines. 
This is particularly a problem in indoor pools, which often aren’t as well-ventilated as outdoor pools .

 
 
Get clues, analyze data, solve the case, and save lives! In this fun app, you get to be the Disease Detective.


Contact Lenses 
Keep water away from your contact lenses. Avoid showering in contact lenses, and remove them before using a hot tub or swimming.

Why? Contact lenses are a known risk factor for Acanthamoeba keratitis  a severe type of eye infection caused by a free-living ameba that is commonly found in water 


. Activities such as showering, using a hot tub, and swimming while wearing contact lenses may increase the risk of this infection 

 Due to regional differences in environmental factors and water quality worldwide contact lens wearers should always avoid exposure of contact lenses to water—both at home and when traveling.


Legionella, who is at risk? 


Who Is at Risk for Legionnaires’ Disease?

Not everyone who breathes in contaminated air droplets will get sick. However, you’re at a higher risk for developing Legionnaires’ disease if you:

  • are over age 65
  • have a weakened immune system due to another illness
  • have a chronic lung disease
  • have a job that involves maintaining cooling or air conditioning systems
  • abuse alcohol
  • smoke cigarettes


Mosquitoes by the pool 

Insecticides like BTI, are proper to use to kill mosquiotes around the pool area It's the short form for bacillus thuringiensis israelensis, a bacteria that, according to Beyond Pesticides, can kill a number of strains of mosquito without harming humans, pets or the environment.



Make Sun your Friend in Greece

Sun kissed by best Protection 

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Asthma sufferers 

Asthma attacks can be triggered in people who have asthma by  Breathing in or coming into contact with chloramines at the places we swim 

"The respiratory effects of chlorine on swimmers are mainly caused by irritant compounds in the water or air just at the surface, which swimmers actively inhale as water, aerosols or gases. In backyard outdoor pools, the main irritant is probably free chlorine itself. In public pools, other irritants are released on reaction of chlorine with organic matter." ,said Dr. Alfred Bernard, PhD, research director at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium who .  has studied chlorine effects of swimming pools The Cascade Effect

"Physicians should recommend to their patients with asthma, to avoid poorly managed pools with excessive chlorine levels. Clues to identifying these pools are a strong chlorine smell in pool air and irritating effects on the skin, eyes or upper airways," explained Dr. Bernard. In some areas, home tap water may also be problematic. go to source article 



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Healthy Pools in Greece

GOOD NEWS! so many pools in Greece are with sea water   


Thanks to the geo

physical blessing of this land, 

 the sea, many of the dream pools you may find in Greece, are with sea water. That means, thankfully, that they are much healthier and safe to swim in . Apart from the sea water santitation properties itself, the sea water pools work by salt water purification system which provides on-site production of the sanitizer necessary to maintain water in a safe, healthy and algae-free condition. Sanitizer is produced automatically, within the water itself, and involves no handling, storage or adding of chemicals to the water.

You can check the safety of a private or public pool before using it , by your own inspection 

When visiting public or private pools, swimmers and parents of young swimmers can complete their own inspection using a short and easy checklist that will identify some of the most common health and safety problems
  • Use a test strip (available at most superstores or pool-supply stores) to determine if the pH and free chlorine or bromine concentration are correct. CDC recommends:
  • Free chlorine concentration of at least 1 ppm in pools and at least 3 ppm in hot tubs/spas.
  • Free bromine concentration of at least 3 ppm in pools and at least 4 ppm in hot tubs/spas.
  • pH of 7.2–7.8.

For more information and other healthy and safe swimming steps, Click Here.



Special Risks for Greece

be Aware in Jacouzi, old showers,

public spas,


AND NOT ONLY The Greek CDC Alert on Legionella for cruiseships 

and hotel accomondations FULL STORY


Greece, being a warm Mediterranean country, meets all the factors and criteria for the occurrence of legionella infections, as it happens in warm climates that keep in with high temperatures for long seasons through the extended use of air conditioners that may spread the infection on public places and especially in hotels and tourist accommodation areas, more.


Gastroenteritis on Rhode island Hotel in 2014  Health Alert by the Greek CDC

What happened on that hotel on Rhodes island by the gastroenteritis cases? 
 The accurate details by the Greek CDC


Get an idea of the million germs that are swimming with you in the pool 


Don't share your towel : MRSA can spread
Steps to Protect Yourself from MRSA
• All swimmers »
  •  Don’t touch any bumps, cuts, infected areas, or bandages on another person’s skin. 
  •  Don’t share items, like towels or razors, with other people. 
  •  Keep cuts and scrapes clean and cover them with bandages. 
  •  Talk to recreational water facility operators to make sure they: – Clean frequently-touched surfaces – 
  • Wash towels after each use 
  •  Maintain proper disinfectant and pH levels in the water to kill germs
 If you have a skin infection 
  •  Don’t go in recreational water. Other germs from the water can get into your wound(s) and cause additional infections. 

Breathing errors in the pool : Legionella and Chloramines 

What are the health effects associated with chloramines? 

Breathing in or coming into contact with chloramines at the places we swim can lead to negative health effects in swimmers and others in the swimming area including

  • Everyone (swimmers and others in the swimming area)
  • Respiratory symptoms such as nasal irritation, coughing, and wheezing.
  • Asthma attacks can be triggered in people who have asthma 
Swimmers
  • Red and stinging eyes 
  • Skin irritation and rashes

Bacteria called Legionella cause Legionnaires’ disease by invading the lungs Common locations include:

  • hot tubs
  • whirlpool spas
  • swimming pools
  • cooling systems or air-conditioning units for large buildings, such as hospitals
  • public showers
  • humidifiers
  • fountains
  • natural bodies of water, such as lakes, rivers, and creeks

The bacteria can survive outdoors, but they’re known to multiply rapidly in indoor water systems. People get infected by inhaling water droplets or mist in the air that’s contaminated with the bacteria. The disease can’t be spread directly from person-to-person.


All the Recreational Water Illnesses that could spoil your vacation   

RWIs include a wide variety of infections 

caused by germs such as Crypto (short for Cryptosporidium), Giardia, Shigella, norovirus and E. coliO157:H7. These germs can live from minutes to days in pools, even if the pool is well-maintained. Some germs are very tolerant to chlorine and were not known to cause human disease until recently. Once the pool has been contaminated, all it takes is for someone to swallow a small amount of pool water to become infected.
If contaminated water comes in contact with a person’s skin for a long period of time, it can cause a rash called hot tub rash, or dermatitis. Hot tub rash is often caused by infection with the germ Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
This infection, known as "swimmer's ear" or otitis externa, is not the same as the common childhood middle ear infection. The infection occurs in the outer ear canal and can cause pain and discomfort for swimmers of all ages.

Swimmers are at risk for respiratory infections if they breathe in steam or mist from a pool or hot tub that contains harmful germs. A respiratory disease caused by the germ Legionella is one of the most frequent waterborne diseases among humans

Chlorine can also combine with what comes out of or washes off of swimmers’ bodies (for example, pee, poop, sweat, dirt, skin cells, and personal care products) This causes chemical irritants called chloramines (chlor, short for chlorine, and amines, compounds that contain nitrogen) are formed  while chlorine becomes unavailable to kill germs 


MRSA can spread when you share items (like towels or razors) or touch surfaces (like hand rails or locker room benches) contaminated with MRSA. MRSA is most likely to spread when it comes into contact with an uncovered cut or scrape