Microbiology concerns!

[suecna]

I am currently enrolled in microbiology. I had my first class last night. There is a LOT I didn't know about this course before I got into it. I was of the impression that we'd be doing a lot of hard work with knowledge, etc and anticipated that for the lab section we would be doing things like looking at pre-made slides and such. I guess I'd just not really thought about it that much or looked into it that deeply.

Well, what I've now found out is that we will be working with various assorted contaminants, some rather serious, and many types of funguses and such. We were told how to dress for lab, that we need to have 2 disposable lab coats in case of spillage then there is one to throw away and we should keep the other in the car so that we can go and get it. We are to have special shoes, goggles, gloves and preferably scrubs to wear to avoid contamination spread.

Okay, so my biggest dilemma is that I have an immunocompromised cat at home. She is my baby girl and I am EXTREMELY careful with what comes into the house. If some of these "bugs" traveled home with me accidently this could be very serious.

What I would like to know is if I am just potentially overreacting to all the dress code things and such and/or if there is really that much to be concerned with. In other words, has anyone heard of anyone who actually did bring any "bugs" or funguses home with them? Or is this just a hugely preventative measure on the school's part to avoid lawsuits and such should anything ever actually happen?

It is still early enough that if it looks like a bad thing to do I can drop this class and get my money back. I will still need to get the credit for this class somehow and don't relish having to take this as an online or self study clep course but staying in this class is NOT worth ANY degree of risk to my baby girl.

Please share your thoughts on this with me. Thank you.

Sue

[Winner]

I agree with jaimealmostRN. While not all people feel the same way, some consider their pets as their children. I don't think it's fair to assume she is any less of a student or any less dedicated to Nursing. If you can some how alter or prevent something "bad," Why wouldn't you?

[michelle95]

"Get over it" might be a little harsh, I agree with that. However, if you are concerned about an immunosuppressed animal (and insert person in there, too) then the medical field might not be for you. You said you are going into long term care....there are bugs all over those places as well. It doesn't matter where you go. And, like one of the other posters suggested, you are going to have to do clinicals in the hospital. There is no way getting over that.

I understand your concerns. I worry about if I might bring home something to my kids. All the advice I can give is to make sure you wash your hands and change your clothes before picking up kitty. You could even take a shower first.

The most serious pathogen we "played" with was Streptococcus pyogenes (the cause of Strep throat). And, some people (I think myself included) carry that anyway-about 10% of the pop if my micro teacher is right. All the rest of the bugs that we observed were normal flora. You carry that on your skin or in your GI tract. Normally, it doesn't cause a problem...but, it can in immunosuppressed patients/animals. You have already been around this cat with the normal flora that you carry on you and the cat has been fine. I would think that he/she (I didn't catch gender) will be ok.

And, like someone else said, usually animals don't catch our diseases and vice versa. That's not to say that it doesn't happen, just not usually.

Hope this helps a little. :)