Status: Active
Date issued: 20 December 2023
Issued by: Dr. Clare Looker, Chief Health Officer
Issued to: Victorian public and health professionals
Key messages
- There has been an increase in the number of cryptosporidiosis (crypto) cases in Victoria.
- Some cases have become infected after using public swimming pools and public health investigations have found people are attending pools while they are infectious.
- To avoid contaminating pool water which infects others, people should not swim while they have diarrhoea and for two weeks after diarrhoea stops.
- Health professionals should consider the possibility of cryptosporidiosis in people presenting with gastroenteritis, especially if they have recently used a public swimming pool.
- If Cryptosporidium infection is suspected, ask about likely exposures, send a stool sample for Cryptosporidium testing and provide infection control and exclusion advice, including avoiding swimming until two weeks after diarrhoea stops.
