[Hello Nurses]

I need to ask this old topic that most nurses know .After being educated as a nurse with infectious diseases, everything commiunable and on and on does everybody find it hard not to be nariotic with your children i have studied infectious diseases for years just a interest crazy maybe but i find it hard letting my children do alot of things because i know what they are being exposed to. I had a girlfriends child get E Coli from a fast food hamburger know i don't let my son eat hamburgers is this wrong to try to protect my child well he takes steroids so his immunity is effected so this is why i tend to be nariotic but i find myself being limited with him it just seems that there is so many weird and different bugs around know and some many patients that don't complete antibiotics (superbugs)i could go on forever but please give advice thanks Happy Holidays, With God Everything is possible.

[jax]

I am coming from the opposite end of the spectrum. I say let them get grubby and build up their immunity. Lots of interesting research about kids growing up in super super clean houses and not being exposed to the every day lurgies( very scientific word), and the rise of asthma.

What they eat, that's a different matter. I am pretty particular about healthy diet, but they still get the odd treats. Let the kids get down and dirty! jax

[karenG]

yep me too..............let them eat worms if they want to!! there is a growing body of evidence that suggests our children are less healthy because we dont expose them to bugs!! mine have been allowed to do anything and eat anything (and tom did eat worms!) They are both healthy teenagers who are never ill! so dont mollycoddle them!

Karen

[traumaRUs]

I guess I can say this say this since my sons are now 18 and 23, but I always kept a pretty clean home. Certainly not perfect, but then who's is? Anyway...I do worry about my boys (even now). I think I would do whatever you feel comfortable doing. If you know you can't feed your kids hamburgers, then avoid that place. You can go through life saying "I wish I had done this or that", but you only get one life, so good luck and relax. Take care.

[Rapheal]

The only thing that puts a feeling of dread in me is when bacterial meningitis is reported anywhere close (for me this means a 50 mile radius). I am truly afraid of how hard, and fast this can hit a teenager or young adult and how deadly it can be. Most younger kids do not get it because they are protected by their vaccinations- but the teens and young adults are still at risk. I admit to being paranoid over this one.

[NRSKarenRN]

Most infections come from:
hand to hand contact
air contact
not cleaning wounds
kids: oral fecal route

So I focused on:

Wash your hands, Wash your hands, Wash your hands, Wash your hands, Wash your hands, Wash your hands!

Cover your mouth when coughing, use tissues!

Clean cuts with soap and water, triple antibiotic ointment, cover bandaid.

Wash your hands, Wash your hands, Wash your hands, Wash your hands, Wash your hands, Wash your hands!


Digging in the dirt and getting messy is healthy for kids just...

Wash your hands, Wash your hands, Wash your hands, Wash your hands, Wash your hands, Wash your hands!

[NicuGal]

The getting dirty thing is fine by me, but I am a fanatic with handwashing! She doesn't eat red meat, so I am safe there and she only eats deep fried chicken so I am pretty safe there.

The Ecoli thing scares me too...we have a secretary that had 2 grandkids die from it in our PICU.

Of course there was the pseudomonas in the eye that the eye doc suspects came from the public pool

[jnette]

Originally posted by jax
I am coming from the opposite end of the spectrum. I say let them get grubby and build up their immunity. Lots of interesting research about kids growing up in super super clean houses and not being exposed to the every day lurgies( very scientific word), and the rise of asthma.

What they eat, that's a different matter. I am pretty particular about healthy diet, but they still get the odd treats. Let the kids get down and dirty! jax

AGREE 100% !!!

[Katnip]

I agree with Jnette and Jax. My kids have always crawled on the floor, dug in the dirt, and eaten God only knows what when they were small. They're now 18, 15, and 13 and beyond the usual sniffles, one flu, and a few cases of strep throat among them, they've never been sick, even the one with asthma (he's now grown out of that). They've gotten into the habit of handwashing frequently now that they're older. They're doing just fine.

I worry more about alcohol, drugs, others bringing firearms to school, and wrecking cars than I do germs.

[cotjockey]

I can't stand it when people think only RNs are nurses...