Do you say something to a mom in public with a sick kid?

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01/07/2009 10:31

Subject: Re:Do you say something to a mom in public with a sick kid?

Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:

Aaaahhhh...I was just waiting for this one because I knew someone would bring this argument up. This is a very misleading argument. Someone once mentioned that to me when I, too, was complaining that they brought their sick child to a playgroup. So I did some research. Apparently germs strengthening the immune system of kids is based on a study done in Germany comparing city kids to farm/rural kids. Apparently, farm/rural kids were more healthy as they got sick for fewer days per year. But guess what 'got sick for fewer days per year' really translated to? THREE fewer days of sickness per year. Big deal. For three extra days of being sick per year I STILL do not want my child around a sick kid. Because it might be just a cough for first child, but end up as a hospital visit for mine.

And "By the time a kid is showing symptoms s/he's often no longer contagious" is also not true. My brother is a pediatrician and says that symptoms can indicate contagiousness still. The general rule, mistated by this PP, is that by the time a person has had a cold for 4 days they are often starting to build up immunity and are less likely to be contagious. Notice I used words like 'generally' and 'less likely.' Vague terms because one never knows for sure who builds up immunity starting when. Child A can start to build up immunity on 4th day of a cold, child B might build up immunity on day 6 of a cold. This is confirmed by our own sons pediatrician.

Gee, DCUM really is a hotbed of germophobes! BTW, thanks for sharing your "research" but quoting random studies of German farm kids is exactly what I mean by practicing medicine by Google. Forgive me if I rely on my own pediatrician instead of your internet research or some anonymous poster's brother.

Point of fact: I didn't say anything about a "general rule" of 4 days. And I didn't claim that no child showing symptoms is potentially infectious - just that lots of kids who may appear sick may not in fact be contagious. Unless you are a doctor and are examining the sniffly kid next to yours at the library, you have no way to know whether s/he is. E.g., when my older child has been given antibiotics for an infection, his pediatrician generally has recommended that he can return to school after 24 hours, provided he is feeling better. And for that matter, no pediatrician has ever advised me to keep my children locked in the house if they have a runny nose or cough.

But again, if you're that disturbed by children with colds out in public, keep your own kids at home, and get cracking on your internet research because 18 years is a long long time to be quarantined.

I challenge you to ask your pediatrician what study he's referring to when he tells you its okay to let your sick kid go to public places. He'll refer to the same German study I did. Thats what many pediatricians are referring to. And then come back and tell me what "YOUR" pediatrician said.

Oh I got what you said. I understood perfectly what you said. You said we hve no way of knowing whether coughing kids or kids with mucous running from their nose into their mouth are truly contagious. But that's exactly my point. We have no way of knowing. And neither do you. So keep them away until at least several days have gone by from the time they intially got sick to be on the safe side.

I'm actually not that disurbed by seeing kids with colds in public. What sickens me is when they wipe their nose with their hand and then touch my son. So ifyou are going to bring your sick kids in public, at least watch them to make sure they're not wiping their bodily fluids on toys and chairs and on my child.

Thats basic hygiene and basic manners. The only reason people bring sick kids around other healthy kids is pure selfishness.