If you swam at a water body and didn’t contract swimmer’s itch, we’d like to know about that as well. Sites where someone swam and didn’t get itch should NOT be thought of as being free of the potential for swimmer’s itch. There are many factors that influence the presence of swimmer’s itch causing cercariae in the water (some examples are wind direction, time of day, time of year and location of the swimming area). Thus, it is nearly impossible to predict where and when swimmer’s itch will be an issue at any specific site on a lake. However, part of our research program is meant to help understand the factors that contribute to increased likelihood of the presence of cercariae. Thus, information related to locations on a lake where someone did not contract swimmer’s itch is still valuable for us to capture.
