Getting sick from the Ocean- am I making this up?!

[toledo13]

Hi all. I thought I heard somewhere that you can get sick from being in the ocean. Am I making this up?? It was something about little organisms coming up through your feet (in the sand) or swallowing ocean water. Does anyone else have more deatails? The reason I'm asking is that we're going to Maimi in October, and my husband is all about being in the ocean. I just don't want it to make me sick!! Would LOOOVE your help!! THANK YOU!

 

[toledo13]

Yeah, ok maybe I am...

 

[raysnkaysmom]

I have nooo idea...lol...
but when we just got back from Daytona, I could have swore the pink eye my son got was either from the ocean or from the sand... He is the only one who got it...and the only one who allowed sand and sea water into his face!!

And....he got sick (but big sister had sore throat prior to arriving at beach)..

 

[Angelhalo]

Well I don't know what the scientific answer is but I grew up at the beach and have spent years and years swimming in ocean water and have never once gotten sick from it. Just seems like one more silly thing to worry about. Just swim and have fun!

 

[bgirldeb]

Beaches will close if the water quality is bad, so I'm sure you CAN get sick from the beach.

A lot of beaches have regular testing and I'm sure you can find the scores somewhere online.

 

[onelilspark]

If you swallow enough salt water, yes, you'll get sick. That's why we purify our water

Mostly kids are the ones who swallow too much because they don't know better.

 

[ols386]

I don't think this applies to humans, but we were recently at the beach on the west coast, and read where there is some kind of bacteria that dogs can pick-up at the beach. It comes from salmon, and if the dog ingests the bacteria, by eating or licking something that's come in contact with the infected salmon, that it can make dogs very ill, and possibly die.

The article didn't say anything about making humans ill, just dogs. But we saw a lot of people walking along the beach with their dogs.

 

[Mickey527]

There is an organism in lake water in Florida that has caused death when the organism gets into your system through a cut or scrape. There are signs all over Disney at the shores of the resort lakes that will tell about this organism and a warning to not go into the water. I remember when Poly first opened sitting in the chairs along the beach and swimming in the lake. Not anymore, you never see anyone swimming. I think this might be another reason why they closed the great swimming hole at Fort Wilderness, (River Country) years ago.
But when I did a search on bacteria in Florida waters I did come up with this:
<<Each year it kills more people in Gulf Coast states than sharks do around the world. It's a bacterium called Vibrio vulnificus.

Vibrio vulnificus occurs naturally in warm salt water around the world. The bacteria can contaminate raw oysters and make you sick. It can also enter your system through a very small cut or scrape.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and local doctors, Vibrio can make healthy people sick, but those most at risk have some type of underlying health condition like liver disease, cancer or AIDS. And those are the people who should avoid raw oysters and use caution around salt water.>>
I would stay out of lakes in Florida but if there is a bacteria in the Gulf waters the health department would put out a warning. Plus, if you have a strong immune system I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[Feralpeg]

Perhaps you are thinking of "Red Tide". Red Tide is an organism that grows in the waters along the Florida coastline. It can cause respiratory illness in humans if inhaled. At certain times, red tide warnings will be posted telling people to avoid those areas. At present, I heard that the red tide is not bad. All the rain we've had recently has helped keep it at bay.

 

[Day-Day]

You can get sick anywhere; even 1,000 miles from the ocean.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Also brain eating amoebas can cause death if sniffed in through your nose. Gross but true. They thrive in FRESH (not ocean) water above 80degrees and yes there are warnings in Fl. every once in a while.

Gotta love DD's facts thread on her I-touch!!

 

[Kathi OD]

How are you getting to Miami? Plane? Car? Your chances of getting sick from swimming in the ocean are probably less than the chances of getting hurt on the way there.

Let your DH have a great time in the ocean if he wishes. You can opt out and sit on the beach if it worries you that much.

 

[toledo13]

OK well that puts me more at ease then!!

 

[Buckalew11]

Grew up at the beach and my family thinks the opposite: The ocean cures everything.

Anyway, sometimes I think you can talk yourself into these type things--positive or negative. My family thiks it cures so no one gets sick. If you go to the ocean thinking you'll get sick, you probably will.

I'll never forget my mom telling my dad, who had terminal cancer, that maybe he needed to drink some ocean water. He'd tried everything else and then one day the meds stopped working for him. She waskidding when she said it but I think deep down she probably thought it might be worth a shot because of how she was raised thinking salt water was a miracle cure.

I hope you have a good time at the beach. And I hope your DH has fun in the ocean. Will this be your first trip?

 

[toledo13]

Grew up at the beach and my family thinks the opposite: The ocean cures everything.

Anyway, sometimes I think you can talk yourself into these type things--positive or negative. My family thiks it cures so no one gets sick. If you go to the ocean thinking you'll get sick, you probably will.

I'll never forget my mom telling my dad, who had terminal cancer, that maybe he needed to drink some ocean water. He'd tried everything else and then one day the meds stopped working for him. She waskidding when she said it but I think deep down she probably thought it might be worth a shot because of how she was raised thinking salt water was a miracle cure.

I hope you have a good time at the beach. And I hope your DH has fun in the ocean. Will this be your first trip?

This will actually be our 2nd to this particular place (Sunny Isles Beach). Last time, I didn't want to go in the water because I kept thinking that I saw jellyfish, but DH wanted to go in waist height!!! Now- I'm from Ohio mind you... not an ocean for miles! I don't know what freaks me out so much about it... maybe just feeling things against my legs and stuff. When I was younger, we were at the beach and I got a headache, and then "got sick", and somehow my brain convinced me that it was from the ocean... it was probably not that... probably the sun!

 

[Parkers_girl]

I have lived in South Florida my entire life (except for the past year I've been in central FL), and I have gone to the beaches thousands and thousands of time and have never gotten sick from an "organism" in the water. I have been to the beaches up and down the florida coast and the only thing that ever plagued me was sea lice, and that was only twice.

 

[toledo13]

I have lived in South Florida my entire life (except for the past year I've been in central FL), and I have gone to the beaches thousands and thousands of time and have never gotten sick from an "organism" in the water. I have been to the beaches up and down the florida coast and the only thing that ever plagued me was sea lice, and that was only twice.

Ohhhh that's good!!

 

[Buckalew11]

toledo, have a wonderful, safe trip. Bodysurfing is the most fun in the ocean but I'm think it the waves in Miami might not be great for it. Please do enjoy your trip though. My DH does not care for the sand and salt water so I understand you when you talk about not being it used to it. I'm sorta that way in the woods. LOL

 

[livie1205]

you CAN get sick from the ocean...where we live the beaches are closed for swimming because of the bacteria in the water and they just found e coli and put out alerts.I live along the gulf, the warnings are for the areas around,shell point,carrabelle,alligater point and appalach....They have put up signs everywhere to warn of this bacteria.

 

[Handbag Lady]

This will actually be our 2nd to this particular place (Sunny Isles Beach). Last time, I didn't want to go in the water because I kept thinking that I saw jellyfish, but DH wanted to go in waist height!!! Now- I'm from Ohio mind you... not an ocean for miles! I don't know what freaks me out so much about it... maybe just feeling things against my legs and stuff. When I was younger, we were at the beach and I got a headache, and then "got sick", and somehow my brain convinced me that it was from the ocean... it was probably not that... probably the sun!

I was raised near the ocean and you will be fine. The one thing that still freaks me out is when seaweed wraps around your legs/feet when you are swimming out there. I've tried to embrace it like the rest of my family, but it just feels squishy to me.

But go and have fun swimming. I always felt that seawater does wonderful things for the hair and skin. I just feel much more GLOW-Y after a day at the beach.