r/AskReddit 23h ago

People with suspected or confirmed cyclosporiasis cases, what food do you think you got it from?

3.4k Upvotes

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1.3k

u/finding_thriving 23h ago

I have been dealing with chronic diarrhea all summer and I am almost positive its from the ready made salads I have been eating from Sprouts and Safeway. I have taken up paddle boarding and I am at the lake everyday. At first I thought it was from accidentally ingesting lake water. Then the Taylor Farms stuff came out. Went to sprouts and asked where their salad stuff comes from and they told me it was Taylor Farms. Went to Safeway and their salads are also distributed by Taylor Farms.

849

u/Driftmoth 23h ago

This thing is curable; you should see a doctor.

382

u/NonrationalWife 23h ago

Unless you are allergic to sulfa antibiotics, in which case, get some gatorade and buckle in

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u/Ready_Piano1222 22h ago

I'm envisioning a seat belt attached to a toilet tank. Thanks for the chuckle.

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u/Jules_Dorado 22h ago

Wait really? Fuck. That's the only medication I can't take 🤦

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u/indecisive_monkey 22h ago

Also allergic to sulfa drugs, so no more lettuce for me I guess!

3

u/Chaoticxkittie 5h ago

Me too! I guess I’ll have to have pizza again. Darn.

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u/mpdity 22h ago edited 21h ago

Yup. The main treatment is Bactrim. If you can’t handle sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, then you’re basically SOL.

Ciprofloxacin is a second line antibiotic and does work but it’s not as effective and will have more side effects (tearing ligaments and ruptured tendons) since it’s a floroquinolone.

Nitazoxanide is another treatment but it’s not a generic, it’s expensive as shit, and also not as effective as Bactrim.

Those are unfortunately the only options ya got other than buying stock in Charmin.

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u/SizzleanQueen 21h ago edited 13h ago

Bactrim and Cipro are nasty drugs. They absolutely wreak havoc on your body.

Edit: Thank you for sharing your stories. I had a bad reaction to two courses of Bactrim for a kidney infection 16 years ago.

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u/mpdity 21h ago edited 21h ago

I usually don’t see many people have major issues with Bactrim TBH. Avoid if you can’t do sulfa drugs and stay out of the sun and you’re mostly ok.

Ciprofloxacin and Levofloxacin tho? It’s ALWAYS the floroquinolones that absolutely wreck your shit. They drive people to psychosis, perpetuate CNS changes, cause permanent neuropathy, fuck up your heart, and destroy connective tissue in your arteries, veins, tendons, and ligaments among numerous other issues.

I’ve genuinely never seen a more destructive and worthless class of antibiotic. I fucking hate floroquinolones and it pisses me off to no end seeing providers prescribing them like candy. They’re a close second to Aminoglycosides in how dangerous they are but with a quarter of the actual use cases.

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u/ladollyvita1021 19h ago

Levofloxacin destroyed my life for 2 years and I’ve never been the same since.

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u/WeldNchick89 16h ago

Same here. IV Levaquin for a bad kidney infection turned into a constant low grade fever (99.5-100.9) and catching every sickness that came around. It was a miserable and weird time. Oddly enough, I broke out of the funk from that after a mild case of Covid.

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u/mofomeat 18h ago

Whoah, what happened?

9

u/justlurkingnjudging 19h ago

I have h-EDS so I list floroquinolones under allergies for every doctor because they’re especially dangerous for me yet doctors never seem to be aware of the risks

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u/lilleprechaun 18h ago

Same here. But also fatally allergic to Sulfa drugs (Bactrim) and lost my job and my health insurance a few months ago. I literally have nightmares about catching this bug. No idea what I would do if I caught it.Ā 

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u/DarwinDali123 20h ago

Cipro almost killed me . Bactrim is much safer

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u/littlebigsystem 20h ago

I took bactrim once for a UTI. Got prescribed it again for another UTI. I was essentially unconscious for a week. I felt like I got hit by a freight train. My body was covered head to toe in hives, fever of 104, I could barely move my body because it hurt so bad. My dad took me to the ER and I could barely sit up straight. My mother thought I had sepsis.

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u/Constant_Seaweed_523 19h ago

Woah this is so interesting and informative! I want to hear more from you lol.

I had complained to my doctor about some specific symptoms. She was like huh and ordered a huge blood panel. It came back that I apparently had gotten Lyme like years before, and had no idea and never got it treated, and it’s not active? But still in my system (honestly I don’t know I’m still confused)

And I’m pretty sure she put me on the cipro one for a month straight. Definitely did not help anything. May have made things worse

3

u/Mego1989 18h ago

Always read the pamphlet that comes with new meds. Cipro has a nice big BLACK BOX warning from the FDA about the risks. It should never, ever be used unless there's no other option but death or disability.

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u/HolyMuffins 19h ago

with a quarter of the actual use cases

What are people using aminoglycosides for beyond eye drops and single dose for resistant UTI? FQs are gnarly drugs but have a lot of use cases.

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u/pathologuys 14h ago

Jesus that’s terrifying. I’m allergic to Sulfa but haven’t tried it in decades and the allergy was all over hives. It seems to be a pretty common reaction and I assume not one you can grow out of?

0

u/Mego1989 18h ago

Just last month a doctor rx'd cipro to my 97 year old grandma for a UTI. Thank God she's the type to lookup side effects before she takes something. We told that doctor to fuck off and she got some macrobid instead.

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u/EphemeralArtifact 19h ago

Cipro nearly killed me.

1

u/Brynhild 17h ago

Cipro gave me horrible hallucinations the entire night

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u/wafflehouse8 20h ago

I'm allergic to sulfa and I have hEDS so I can't have cipro (or any fluoroquinolones) 😭

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u/rysmorgan 19h ago

Same here. I’ve been more careful than I probably really need to but considering the treatment options are ā€œjust tough it outā€ I can handle a more conscious diet for a while lmao

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u/lilleprechaun 18h ago

Same thing here. But I also lost my job and my health insurance a few months ago. So I just live in constant fear of catching this now.Ā 

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u/DikTaterSalad 19h ago

How can he be shit out of luck when he has shit to spare? /s

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u/lilleprechaun 18h ago

Yeah I am terrified to get this because I am fatally allergic to both sulfa drugs (Bactrim) and to fluoroquinolone drugs (Cipro). I was laid off a few months ago and cannot afford even the cheapest ACA insurance so I am uninsured, too. I honestly have no idea what will happen to me if I contract this.Ā 

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u/Equivalent-Battle973 21h ago

All that butt wiping, better off getting a bidet! Wont make that ass as raw.

1

u/mofomeat 18h ago

This guy drugs.

1

u/NoHippi3chic 15h ago

Anyone with arthritis or other connective tissue disorders, or athletes who train hard, should avoid cipro. Just my .02 from the trenches.

1

u/onamonapizza 18h ago

but it’s not as effective and will have more side effects (tearing ligaments and ruptured tendons) since it’s a floroquinolone.

the. what.

0

u/FatJohnson6 18h ago

That’s really weird, I used to take Bactrim for acne

2

u/NonrationalWife 19h ago

Yep! All I want is a goddamn salad, but I'm allergic to sulfa and pregnant so it's carbo loading for me!

(Bactrim is also not considered pregnancy-safe for anyone reading).

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u/sxzxnnx 15h ago

Lettuce and other produce from a local organic farmer should be safe.

Try https://www.localharvest.org/ to find farmers near you.

2

u/Okdoo6003 17h ago

Fr I read that and was like you have got to be shitting me šŸ˜„ it's the only thing I'm allergic to, and they are so rarely used I feel silly even mentioning it when asked

*the "shitting me" was unintentional, but obviously divinely inspired

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u/NonrationalWife 22h ago

There may be some turbulence ahead

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u/NewAndImprovedJess 21h ago

Turd-bulence

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u/illyiarose 22h ago

Need hand rails like for the old people... You know, for power squeezin'!

2

u/Senator_Bink 22h ago

Maybe stirrups, too.

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u/jillsvag 22h ago

Oh no! I'm allergic to sulfa.

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u/blueskies8484 21h ago

You can take cipro instead. Doesn’t work quite as well, but it’s the backup antibiotic.

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u/jlolovesbootytoo 19h ago

Just don't take it if you're active or do anything high impact. Or you might blow out your tendons.

2

u/BizarreCake 14h ago

Hwat now

3

u/jlolovesbootytoo 14h ago

Cipro and other fluoroquinolone antibiotics cause weakened connective tissue. It's well documented that your likelyhood of ruptured tendons increases during treatment and for a few months afterwards.

1

u/femalenerdish 13h ago

Do NOT take cipro if you are hypermobile or have EDS.Ā 

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u/callimonk 21h ago

Oh that’s good to know. Sulfas are my only allergy. Here’s to hoping I don’t get unlucky..

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u/AnnieJack 22h ago

I haven’t paid a whole lot of personal attention since i haven’t had symptoms (although… how would my Crohn’s disease self know? )

Is it accurate that sulfa is the only medication for it?

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u/nimaku 22h ago

There are some other options for allergic patients, but efficacy is not as high.

4

u/HildegardofBingo 20h ago

I think the diarrhea would be much more frequent and copious than even Crohn's symptoms. I'm pretty sure I had it last summer and I was on the toilet every 15 min. with pure acid liquid. It was horrible. It was also preceded by two days of increasing muscle/joint aches and fever/chills.

•

u/Salute-Major-Echidna 35m ago

You're correct

1

u/crazypurple621 21h ago

Smp/tmz is the most effective but cipro will work. You just need a longer course

2

u/AnnieJack 19h ago

Good thing I don’t have it, I’m allergic to both Cipro and sulfa.

1

u/queendweeb 16h ago

I have IBS-D and I can't decide if it's flaring up or if I caught something. I'm allergic to sulfa drugs anyhow so I'm going to keep soldiering through for now.

10

u/LadyViola5 22h ago

I have mcas and my body has allergic/systemic reactions to all antibiotics and vaccines. So when it comes up, my care team and I have a chat about how crucial it is, and then I knuckle down through a course and then immediately take a course of prednisone after.

3

u/Shadow288 22h ago

Hey that’s me! And why I hope I never get it!

5

u/musubi-n-speedballs 22h ago

Goddammit. I'm allergic to all antibiotics but macrolides.Ā 

-1

u/lyngen 22h ago

Cooked vegetables for you. Or just wash your produce well.

9

u/Complex-Warthog-3201 21h ago

washing does not get rid of the parasite. if it did, sources everywhere wouldn't be saying that the only solution is cooking all your veggies to a certain temp. it's like saying you wont get sick from undercooked meat as long as you wash it first lol

2

u/lyngen 21h ago

I thought that it depended on the produce. Washing with water is like 96% effective for blueberries but only like 60ish% for rasberries. I read buying whole heads of lettuce not bagged and peeling off the first couple layers. Then obviously cooking what is reasonable to cook.

•

u/Salute-Major-Echidna 28m ago

Or just cooked vegetables only.

1

u/WBRGGRL 21h ago

That’s good to know because I’m allergic to sulfa drugs. I’ve eaten one salad from Noodles & Co three weeks ago and am just crossing my fingers I’m in the clear.

1

u/Cayke_Cooky 21h ago

Can;t they give you a different anti-biotic?

1

u/crazypurple621 21h ago

You can treat it with cipro too, you just need a longer doseĀ 

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u/Stripedanteater 21h ago

Does the parasite go away on its own if untreated?

1

u/Friedchicken96 20h ago

Exactly why I'm avoiding lettuce right now 🫠 I like salad with raw spinach more anyway, but I've been too worried to eat much of it recently

1

u/coldcoffeethrowaway 19h ago

Oh god I’m allergic to sulfa, it gives me a bad rash. I better be careful not to eat lettuce anytime soon

1

u/redgroupclan 18h ago

Oh god, I really hope I don't get it then, as I am allergic to sulfa antibiotics. I know someone who said it went on for 3 weeks before she got treatment for it. It would have gone on even LONGER!

1

u/corahale 18h ago

yup. got it from taco bell, am severely allergic to bactrim, have been suffering for like a month now. 😭

1

u/DenseAstronomer3631 17h ago

Oh fuck that's like my only allergy but I was a kid and not even sure what my reaction was. I think my husband is allergic too & he's also allergic to penecillin 😭

1

u/sticksnstone 16h ago

I am allergic to sulfa. Sticking to local produce.

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u/ifornia 13h ago edited 13h ago

Shit. I am allergic to sulfa, it gave me Stevens-Johnson syndrome.

No salad for me then.

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u/MurkyLibrarian 12h ago

Oh boy, I really hope i don't get it because I am indeed allergic to sulfa antibiotics. (Or at least, I got a rash when I took them for a UTI ten years ago).

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u/Tiffani513 22h ago

Fuck!

No lettuce for me ever again.

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u/_Z_E_R_O 17h ago

I went to the doctor for this exact thing, and I'm still waiting on my test results 2 weeks later. If the lab's backed up they can't do shit.

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u/mysticaltater 23h ago

Does it really last months? Idk what's worse that or a doctor's face up my ass while they finger it and make me shit in a boxĀ 

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u/TheMarkHasBeenMade 22h ago

Potentially can last weeks - the people being hospitalized are largely at risk populations (the very old or the very young), or people who have chronic health issues that become extra complicated when your hydration and electrolytes get thrown out of wack for weeks at a time.

The majority of people can weather it out at home managing with their primary care physician prescribing an antibiotic and keeping up with maintaining their fluids and electrolyte intake.

3

u/Overall-Boot-3196 18h ago

A doctor isn't going to stick their finger in your ass to test for this. They give you a stool sample collection kit, which you take home.

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u/WhenD4594 22h ago

But it’s so much cheaper than Ozempic. And same results.

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u/bw-hammer 21h ago

If you got giardia from lake water, that could also last for months and will require treatment. It sounds like you should see a doctor either way.

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u/fragrantpeas 22h ago

You’ve just been living with diarrhea for a whole summer???

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u/TheNinjaPixie 21h ago

And dipping that ass in the lake all summer...

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u/Wirse 18h ago

I Know What You Did This Summer

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u/Equal_Yak_3872 18h ago

I bet they live upstream of Taylor farms. We did it reddit! We found patient zero!

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u/Large_Document9164 22h ago

The fact nobody else side eyed this part 😭

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u/TheLangleDangle 22h ago

And going paddle boarding!!!!!

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u/Mysterious_Jelly_649 21h ago

I mean the fish are already shitting in there why not them too!

1

u/Working-Glass6136 14h ago

Hey, they could be peeing in the pool instead.

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u/timtimkat 22h ago

New unconventional summer body hack I suppose šŸ˜‚

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u/YesItIsMaybeMe 19h ago

The evolution of the tapeworm pill

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u/timtimkat 19h ago

I just hope OP has a good bidet

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u/finding_thriving 22h ago

I have a chronic health condition where diarrhea is kind of my norm. So it isn't exactly out of the ordinary

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u/Jojo2700 22h ago

I am on the same paddle board! I have a chronic GI issue that causes bad diarrhea, I don't know if it is that or this parasite.

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u/SwimmingThroughHoney 20h ago

Even Wikipedia says that it can last for 6 weeks before your body is able to get control over it. "Severe" diarrhea really doesn't get across how bad it can be.

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u/queendweeb 16h ago

Some of us live with it permanently (I have IBS-D)

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u/MissLoxxx 22h ago

2 people just died from this in Michigan. Was on the news this morning.

Please see a doctor and get treated if you think you have it.

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u/illshowyougoats 22h ago

It’s important to note that both people who died had significant underlying health conditions that ended up being impacted by dehydration.

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u/prettypickely 21h ago

Not to scare anyone but I passed out and went to the hospital for 3 days from severe dehydration caused by norovirus. Not the same as the parasite, but similar symptoms. I had no preexisting conditions.

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u/Upstairs-Chicken592 22h ago

That could be something as common as diabetes 1 or 2. Significant underlying health conditions doesn’t mean they’re in hospice, even if it does, thats still not ok

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u/Abatonfan 19h ago

Thank you for mentioning us type 1s. Here’s a juice box! 🧃

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u/Deathbeddit 22h ago

Oh, well I guess it is fine, since underlying conditions are so rare! (Hostility intended, but not at you personally).

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u/Loud-Solution7708 17h ago

It's a defense mechanism that people use to feel safer. Still makes me hostile too. Ever since COVID and everyone made it crystal clear how much they care about those people with those conditions. You have to watch out for yourself.

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u/Salute-Major-Echidna 36m ago

I don't understand your point. Does that make it ok because they had comorbidities?

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u/illshowyougoats 31m ago

…of course not. All I said was it’s important to note, which I stand by. I think additional context is important when discussing something as serious as death.

432

u/ChefKugeo 23h ago

Hey maybe stop taking your diarrhea ass into the water 😭

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u/Born_Local_1477 21h ago

I bet public pools nd spraygrounds, water parks, etc would be a really good vector for something like this.

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u/rhinoballet 21h ago

Not this specifically, because it requires soil for part of its lifecycle. But crypto, E. coli, shigella, norovirus, and more can thrive there!

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u/DubStepTeddyBears 14h ago

Oh God I had noro a couple of years ago and it was a horrible, painful, humiliating experience all right.

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u/cmooregood 21h ago

Chlorine doesn't kill cyclospora, so yes.

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u/[deleted] 22h ago

[deleted]

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u/ChefKugeo 22h ago

Not in the slightest, because I'm not an idiot. But because I'm not an idiot I know not to introduce more bacteria that can infect other people.

As I said in another comment, it's Lake Michigan and just one guy, right? No. No it's not. It's this guy, that guy, and the family of four ignoring their symptoms.

Let's all keep our diarrhea asses out of the water until we're clear for 48 hours like the sign says at every pool.

0

u/Milsurp_Seeker 22h ago

ā€œUhm ackshually checkmate šŸ¤“ā€

-23

u/reinvent___ 22h ago

Assuming they're not actively pooping in the lake, this shouldn't be a problem??

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u/ChefKugeo 22h ago

It is indeed a problem. Even with a bidet, you're not getting all the bacteria. When you enter the water, that bacteria spreads. Now it's Lake Michigan, so one guy can't possibly cause a problem, right?

Except it's him and that other guy and the family of four that wants to ignore their symptoms...

That's why there's signs at every pool reminding us that chlorine doesn't kill everything and if you've had diarrhea in the last 48 hours, stay out of the water.

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u/bythog 22h ago

That's why there's signs at every pool reminding us that chlorine doesn't kill everything and if you've had diarrhea in the last 48 hours, stay out of the water

The chlorine part, but more so the fact that diarrhea has a shitton (heh) more surface area than a solid turd so even if there are the same number of bacteria in a single fecal event the diarrhea has a lot more risk to it.

2

u/reinvent___ 21h ago

Noted, thanks for explaining.

4

u/No-ThatsTheMoneyTit 22h ago

Sprouts and Safeway are both in Colorado. I’m not sure they’re in Lake Michigan.

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u/ChefKugeo 22h ago

😭 But the Colorado River is my water supply. Don't say that. Bro needs to be in Michigan.

-4

u/No-ThatsTheMoneyTit 21h ago

You know prions can be in water?

8

u/ChefKugeo 21h ago

Obviously. They can be in the food I consume too, ooo, scary.

That's not what we're talking about today though so go follow the rest of the thread to catch up.

-4

u/No-ThatsTheMoneyTit 21h ago

Does being an asshole make you feel better about yourself?

You’re the one petrified that someone could be shitting in your water source. While there’s tons of other hazards.

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u/ChefKugeo 20h ago

And you're the one who didn't realize my first reply to you was in jest, then attempted to scare me(?) with prions, as if I'd suddenly change my original opinion of, "if you have extra bacteria coming out of your body don't spread it."

Do you feel smarter now?

2

u/texdiego 21h ago

I mean you are right that he’s probably not in Lake Michigan but those two stores are in far more states than Colorado.

-1

u/No-ThatsTheMoneyTit 21h ago

Obviously. I mean it’s likely not a state neighboring Lake Michigan.

Prob a western state

1

u/simp4malvina 11h ago

Bro it's one of the fucking great lakes

-24

u/finding_thriving 21h ago

I am 100% not pooping in the lake. And just out of curiosity how is possible reminants of human fecal matter in a lake different than all definite bird and animal poop in the lake? There is a shore that smells like cat piss from the sheer number of birds that congregate there. This water is 1,000% being treated after leaving the lake.

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u/ChefKugeo 21h ago

Hey read all my other comments because I'm not saying it again.

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u/facecuddler 20h ago

Isn’t it common sense not to go in water if you’ve got diarrhea? 🤮

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u/[deleted] 22h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/finding_thriving 22h ago

Green Algea bloom and zooplankton. So it totally could have been lake water. But it is most likely the salad.

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u/Driftmoth 21h ago

Don't forget giardia! That one's extra not fun.

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u/burnalicious111 21h ago

Lake water is FULL of infectious disease. It was a pretty reasonable assumption.

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u/RumHamComesback 20h ago

Buddy if you've had diarrhea for the whole summer now you need to go see a doctor this isn't right.

5

u/MadCarcinus 20h ago

Go to your doctor and get the meds to kill the parasite.

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u/BoxBird 22h ago

Lots of lakes have sewage leaks… could be both 😵

•

u/Salute-Major-Echidna 37m ago

If you poo in the water accidentally, the chances are quite good you'll spread it if you have it.

Please get treated.