It was in February of this year that a number of children in the preschool and primary school age were examined at the Academic Hospital's children's reception in Uppsala, due to unwillingness to load their feet. All children had blushing, severe tenderness and swollen foot soles.
It turned out that all the children had visited the municipality's largest bathhouse a few hours to a day before the first symptoms, which is why the infection protection unit in the Uppsala Region and the municipality's environmental management started an investigation.
Suspected relationship- Many parents told them they were staying at a special swimming facility the day before. As we saw more and more children with inexplicably aching foot soles, we began to understand that there must be a connection, says Susanne Sütterlin, microbiologist, physician and future specialist in pediatrics in Uppsala, to the Medical magazine.
After a literature search, doctors came to the diagnosis: bath house feet - caused by the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Or Pseudomonas hot-foot syndrome, which the disease is called in English.
A total of about 20 children were affected and the symptoms disappeared within two to three days. In some rare cases, symptoms appeared for up to a week, writes the Medical Journal.
Search gave the answer
- It is a disease that affects children who have usually stayed in swimming facilities. The disease causes symptoms in the form of a skin reaction to the soles of the feet caused by contact with surfaces that are heavily contaminated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, says Susanne Sütterlin.
The suspicions were directed at a part of a teaching pool that had been repainted in January, but had already begun to flag in February, as well as an adjacent play corner. Sampling confirmed the suspicions. Both areas were shut down and no new cases have been reported since.