Lake Specchio di Venere or Venus' Mirror on Pantelleria Island, Sicily. Photo / Getty Images
Lake Specchio di Venere or Venus' Mirror on Pantelleria Island, Sicily. Photo / Getty Images
Tourists have been warned after an 11-year-old girl contracted an STI from a popular Italian bathing spot.
The Mirror of Venus or 'Specchio di Venere' is a natural thermal pool on the island of Pantelleria, southern Italy, which is visited by thousands of tourists each year. In August 2020 the young girl from Austria, was bathing with her parents and younger sister in the shallow hot pools.
It was two days later, she developed symptoms and a reported burning sensation. However it was not until two weeks after the holiday that the family's doctor confirmed the child was positive for gonorrhoea.
The girl could not account for contracting the sexually transmitted disease. She was not sexually active and had not left her parents' company during the trip.
The potentially scandalous incident involving the child was diffused after a team of New Zealand and Austrian scientists were able to track down the source.
University of Auckland professor Felicity Goodyear-Smith found the most likely vector of transmission was bathing in "stagnant" thermal water while on holiday.
At constant temperature the springs can incubate infections such as gonorrhea, becoming breeding grounds for disease.
Professor Goodyear-Smith reported having come across similar cases in New Zealand, Australia and America.
The findings by Goodyear-Smith and the University of Saltzberg's department of Biosciences were published in the Journal of Medical Case Reports.
The report recognised the importance to investigate the possibility of abuse, and this must first be ruled out. However it was observed there was also stigma and stress associated with the surprise diagnosis.
"Her first reaction was fear that her new classmates might hear about this infection," said the report.
The report recognised the severity of what could be implied, however lead authors Felicity Goodyear-Smith and Robert Schabetsberger said it was important to consider other possibilities.
Misinformation regarding the disease has led to incidents of "children wrongfully removed from their parents' care, and their caregivers facing false charges of sexual crimes."
"Authorities need to recognise that, while rare, gonorrhea can be transmitted nonsexually, and should not be presumed definitive evidence of abuse."
Three other family members tested negative to the disease after bathing.
The report concluded that holidaymakers should be aware of the hygiene risks of busy natural pools.
"There needs to be public understanding that people bathing in heavily frequented shallow thermal pools risk exposure to pathogens through inoculation by other bathers," warned the report.
Some geothermal pools carry warnings of Amoebic Meningitis. Photo / Reddit, autosear
"A sign should make visitors aware of strict hygiene before entering the pools," the report also suggested using antibacterial soap and providing access to freshwater showers to prevent contamination at public springs.
In New Zealand cases of diseases such as amoebic meningitis have been traced to natural hot pools.
Advice from the Ministry of Health is for bathers to keep their heads above water in natural thermal springs and bathe where there is a constant flow of new water into the pool.
