{"id":12656,"date":"2021-11-16T10:58:57","date_gmt":"2021-11-16T15:58:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/environmental-health\/?page_id=12656"},"modified":"2026-05-05T13:29:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T17:29:14","slug":"swimming-diarrhea","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/environmental-health\/swim-healthy\/swimming-diarrhea\/","title":{"rendered":"Swimming & Diarrhea"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t

\"Don\u2019t<\/p>\n

Diarrhea is one of the most common illnesses linked to swimming in pools, hot tubs, lakes, rivers, or the ocean. You can get sick if you swallow water that has been contaminated.<\/p>\n

Germs are found in the places we swim and can cause a variety of illnesses. Germs can get into the water in different ways: when they rinse off people\u2019s bodies, when someone has diarrhea in the water, or when rain washes germs into beaches and swim areas. In Virginia, three of the most common germs that cause water\u2011related illnesses are <\/span>Cryptosporidium<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Giardia<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>Vibrio<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On average, people have about 0.14 grams of poop\u2014about the size of a few grains of sand\u2014on their bodies at any time. If someone with diarrhea gets into the water, that tiny amount can wash off and contaminate the water. If another person swallows that water, they can get sick.<\/p>\n

Do your part to protect yourself and others when swimming:<\/span><\/h2>\n
    \n
  • Don\u2019t swim if you are ill.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Diarrhea & swimming don\u2019t mix! Don\u2019t swim or let your kids swim when sick with diarrhea.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Don\u2019t swallow the water you swim in! 1 mouthful of water w\/germs can make you sick for 2-3 weeks.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Shower with soap and water BEFORE and AFTER swimming.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Diarrhea is one of the most common illnesses linked to swimming in pools, hot tubs, lakes, rivers, or the ocean. You can get sick if you swallow water that has been contaminated. Germs are found in the places we swim and can cause a variety of illnesses. Germs can get into the water in different […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":453,"featured_media":0,"parent":8591,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12656","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nSwimming & Diarrhea - Environmental Health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Diarrhea is one of the most common illnesses linked to swimming in pools, hot tubs, lakes, rivers, or the ocean.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/environmental-health\/swim-healthy\/swimming-diarrhea\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Swimming & Diarrhea - Environmental Health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Diarrhea is one of the most common illnesses linked to swimming in pools, hot tubs, lakes, rivers, or the ocean.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/environmental-health\/swim-healthy\/swimming-diarrhea\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Environmental Health\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-05T17:29:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2021\/11\/HSS-week-dont-leave-mark-twitter.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"601\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/environmental-health\\\/swim-healthy\\\/swimming-diarrhea\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/environmental-health\\\/swim-healthy\\\/swimming-diarrhea\\\/\",\"name\":\"Swimming & Diarrhea - 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