A woman whose nasty skin infection was most likely picked up during a swim in the sea on Aucklands North Shore believes it is unacceptable that people cannot go swimming without fear of getting sick.

Devonport resident Vanessa Ingraham developed a staph and E coli infection on her legs about four weeks ago.

Her doctor believes she may have caught the infection from swimming at Narrowneck Beach shortly after shaving her legs.

Ingraham, who moved to New Zealand from the Bahamas seven years ago, said she didnt know about Aucklands stormwater issues until she got the infection.

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Vanessa Ingraham/Supplied

Devonport resident Vanessa Ingraham, who is from the Bahamas, says it is unacceptable that people cannot go swimming at Auckland beaches without fear of getting sick.

During heavy rain, water that is contaminated with animal faeces, oil, rubbish, metals and rubber from tyres is often flushed through the stormwater network and onto beaches, a Watercare spokeswoman said.

Aucklands wastewater network is also known to overflow during heavy rain, which causes sewage to spill out from manholes, gully traps, pump stations and engineered overflow points into properties, waterways and the sea.

The Auckland Councils Swimsafe website, which provides real-time forecasts of beach water quality, recommends people avoid swimming for 48 hours following heavy rainfall.

You have to check to see if its safe to swim? This is a foreign concept, Ingraham said.

Vanessa Ingraham/Supplied

Vanessa Ingrahams doctor believes she contracted a staph and E coli infection after swimming at Narrowneck Beach not long after she shaved her legs.

Ingraham, a wellness consultant, swims in the sea daily even in winter to reap the health benefits of swimming in cold water.

According to a 2020 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, regular cold-water swimming may reduce inflammation and symptoms of depression, increase metabolism and improve resilience to stress.

All the things in our life are quite stressful, but we can deal better with mental stress when subjecting ourselves to physical distress, Ingraham said.

She believed it was unacceptable that the water network issue was causing damage to the environment.

Vanessa Ingraham/Supplied

Vanessa Ingraham, who swims in the sea daily, was not aware of the recommendation to check for health risks on Safeswim prior to getting her skin infection.

We can never be healthy in an environment thats making us sick.

Auckland Regional Public Health Service (ARPHS) public health medicine specialist Dr David Sinclair told Stuff that staph and E coli infections were common and could originate from a range of sources.

Because of this, its difficult to identify the source of a particular persons illness and, more generally, how many people may have become ill after swimming at Auckland beaches.

It is expected that 2 per cent of people who swim at a beach marked on Safeswim with a red flag, indicating high risk of illness from swimming, will get sick, with either skin, ear or respiratory infections or with diarrhoea and vomiting.

SAFESWIM/Supplied

More than 50 Auckland beaches were marked on Swimsafe as unsafe for swimming following heavy rain in January.

Sinclair added that ARPHS was not aware of any deaths linked to beach water quality.

Watercare was not aware of any wastewater overflows at Narrowneck Beach in the past year, the spokeswoman said.

Work is under way to reduce wet-weather overflows, with $349.5 million spent on the wastewater network in the past year.

Over the next 20 years, we will be spending close to $11 billion on our wastewater system to reduce wet-weather overflows, improve the quality of beaches and waterways, improve wastewater treatment processes and cater for Aucklands growth.

People are asked to check that their stormwater downpipes are not incorrectly connected to the drain used for their wastewater (kitchen, laundry and toilet).

Anyone who falls ill with symptoms of respiratory, gastroenteritis, ear, eye or skin infections within three days of swimming may have a waterborne illness and is advised to visit their doctor or phone Healthline on 0800 611 116.

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Woman's 'nasty' skin infection most likely caused by swimming in sea after shaving legs - Stuff.co.nz