A South Surrey father hopes to heighten awareness of swimmer's itch after a family dip in Crescent Beach last week left his kids covered in itchy sores.

Wednesday, Kevin Henders and his three children spent an hour wading in the ocean across from Beecher Street.

Feeling itchy upon exiting the water, the family rinsed off in the onsite showers.

By that night, Henders' 10-year-old son Mattias was covered with itchy bumps.

While his other two kids, six-year-old Olivia and eight-year-old Kaelan, also had dots on their bodies, it wasn't until Friday that their symptoms flared up.

The daughter of a friend, whose had joined in on the beach fun is now also experiencing the irritating rash, he said.

While he was aware of the possibility of contracting swimmer's itch, Henders said he didn't realize how extreme the symptoms could get.

"I think people need to be warned about just how bad it is."

He's not the only one.

Stelios Fellas said he won't be swimming in Crescent Beach any time soon after 20 minutes in the water by the lifeguard tower last week resulted in itchy welts covering his body.

Around 3 p.m. July 27, the Ocean Park resident – who swam in the area 10 days earlier without incident – showered for five minutes after exiting the water feeling itchy.

Relief from the irritation proved temporary, however.

"The welts started itching tremendously at night. I didn't sleep at all," he said. "In the morning, the welts were out."

Fellas had sores on his neck, arms, chest and legs, which were still visible by the end of the week.

According to HealthLink BC, swimmer's itch is a temporary, itchy rash caused by small worm-like parasites called schistosomes, found in the bodies of water snails and in the bloodstream of aquatic mammals, ducks or other waterfowl.

When swimming near the water surface in search of these hosts, schistosome larvae sometimes mistakenly get on people's skin. After a person leaves the water, the microscopic larvae burrows under the skin, die almost immediately and can cause an allergic reaction that results in the itchy rash.

According to Fraser Health, swimmer's itch is fairly common in Crescent Beach, and occurs every summer when the weather gets hot.

"Though we found the swimmer's itch parasite at different times throughout the year... we see more complaints about it and more of the parasite released during the hotter weather and especially when we've had a hot period without rain," medical health officer Larry Gustafson said.

As of last week, two Crescent Beach cases had been reported to the health authority.

According to White Rock environmental co-ordinator Marlene Fuhrmann, there haven't been any reported cases related to White Rock Beach.

Surrey parks manager Owen Croy said the city posted warning signs in major access points along Crescent Beach in July. They will stay up until mid-September.

Most of swimmer's itch cases in the province come from freshwater, making Crescent Beach an extraordinary site for the parasite, Croy said.

"Crescent Beach is the only place we know of that has a salt water swimmer's itch within Coastal B.C.," he said.

It has been attributed to Crescent Beach's large population of Eastern mud snails, the intermediate host of the parasite.

Croy said the city is in its fourth year of funding an ongoing study that is examining swimmer's itch in Crescent Beach, in hopes of developing management techniques.

"So far, we have not developed any management recommendations we can yet implement."

In the meantime, people can reduce their risk by applying waterproof sunscreen, drying off briskly with a towel immediately after leaving the water and rinsing off in a shower.

Gustafson said many Crescent Beach visitors have difficulty avoiding swimmer's itch because they walk in and out of tidal pools along the beach, and don't dry off after each.

He said the degree of symptoms depends on how many larvae burrow under the skin, and how sensitive one is to them. The condition becomes worse with repeated exposure.

The biggest risk is if the rash becomes infected, which is often a result of scratching, he added.

Some treatments include cool compresses, calamine lotion and antihistamines.

For more information on swimmer's itch, visit www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthfiles/hfile52.stm