Those are among the proposed rules the state Health Department wants to put in place to prevent an outbreak of the diarrhea-causing cryptosporidiosis. The parasite is spread through fecal-oral contact.
Nowhere in the proposed rules, made public Tuesday, are babies banned from pools, as some swimmers have demanded. Instead, children under 3, those who aren't potty-trained and anyone else who lacks control of their bowels would have to wear a swim diaper and waterproof swimwear that is snug around the waist and legs.
Such swimwear costs $3, according to the state, and likely will be offered for sale at pools. Parents would have to change diapers in the restroom.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention didn't want children banned because that could indirectly contribute to drownings as babies wouldn't be taught to swim. And in analyzing last summer's crypto outbreak, it wasn't clear to the state that diapered children were to blame. They got the sickest, but older children and adults were spreading the parasite, too.
"The public-health community feels like this is an appropriate thing to do," said Robert Rolfs, state epidemiologist.
The rules, if approved after one month of public comment, would go into effect May 22, in time for the traditional start of the swim season. They would require the 5,182 public and private pools to add soap and soap dispensers in shower areas so that swimmers could take a "cleansing shower" - defined as cleaning the entire body with soap to remove fecal matter - before diving in and after using the restroom.
Crypto is common during the summer but usually is contained to a small geographic area. Utah's outbreak was unique because it affected most of the state. Rolfs said it's too early to say if that was "really bad luck" or if it's the new normal.
The state may have to be more draconian if widespread outbreaks continue, including requiring pools to purchase expensive UV filtration systems or changing how pools are built to segregate children from adults.
If there are many crypto cases this summer, public health officials could ban babies from pools or even shut down pools.
Some pool operators are already going beyond the state's proposed rules. Salt Lake County spent almost $1 million to add UV filtration systems - which do a better job than regular chlorine levels at killing bacteria and parasites - to its 18 public pools.
The state's largest private water park, Seven Peaks in Provo, is adding UV filters, too, at a cost of $250,000. Up to 4,000 people swim there each day during the summer, according to spokesman Spencer Pettit. "We have a responsibility to protect people," he said.
hmay@sltrib.com
To comment on the proposed rules, write to Ronald Marsden in the Utah Department of Health's epidemiology department at rmarsden@utah.gov, or call 538-6191. Comments should be submitted by 5 p.m. on May 15.
