Why You Should Wash Your Hands After Being Around Kids....
Don't get me wrong...I like children.
Children, in many ways, are like cats--they are cute when they are small
and belong to someone else! (Just kidding, of course.) We all know
that children carry a variety of communicable pathogens on their being.
They touch anything and everything; they wipe their noses with their
hands (sans Kleenex); and the potential list of bacteria-acquiring attributes
and activities is virtually endless.
A recent study conducted in the
Netherlands by Enserink et al.
and published in PLOS1looked at the prevalence of
enteropathogens in children attending daycare in the Netherlands. This long-term study conducted over three
years also determined that the prevalence of the type of enteropathogen changes
as the child ages (Fig.1)1.
The scientists discovered that 78% of the
samples contained some form of enteropathogen, and these pathogens could be
bacterial (such as enteropathogenic E.
coli [EPEC]), viral (for example, Norovirus), or parasitic (for example, Cryptosporidium) in nature; in fact, almost 20% of the samples were contaminated
with EPEC!
 |
| Fig. 1 Prevalence of various pathogens in children attending daycare in the Netherlands (1) |
Is
there a potential silver lining in this study?
Of sorts, yes, because of all the infected samples, 95.4% of the
children showed no signs of gastroenteritis.
This indicates that the vast majority is asymptomatic; however, these
children can potentially infect others in which they come into contact.
 |
| Fig 2. Need this really have a figure legend (3)??? |
Gastroenteritis
is actually quite common. It is often
mistaken for the “stomach flu” or diarrhea.
It is an inflammation of the stomach, small intestine, and large
intestine. It is estimated that there is
as many as 100 million cases in the United States alone each year2. It is usually relatively non-fatal for most
people; however, it is linked to around 10,000 deaths annually in the U.S. and
5 – 10 million deaths worldwide2.
The journal article can be found at the link below:
1. Enserink R, Scholts R,
Bruijning-Verhagen P, et al. High Detection Rates of Enteropathogens in
Asymptomatic Children Attending Day Care. PLoS ONE. 2014;9(2):e89496.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0089496.
2. Cleveland
Clinic - Gastroenteritis. Clevel Clin. Available at:
http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/gastroenteritis/hic_gastroenteritis.aspx.
Accessed February 25, 2014.
3. http://goeshealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/runny-nose.jpg
Enteropathogens are disease carrying organisms that cause intestinal diseases. These pathogens typically cause gastroenteritis. Gastroenteritis is inflammation of the stomach and intestines. Gastroenteritis usually consists of symptoms such as nausea, diarrhea, fever, and cramping. This article was very interesting considering that my wife works at a daycare taking care of 1-year-old children. I had noticed that she had been getting stomach “bugs” more often since she started working there. I can now offer her a scientifically based explanation of why she has been getting sick more often. However, I doubt she will be thrilled with the answer.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I also work at the daycare of Highland Park church on Sunday mornings. Having personally observed the hygienic habits of infants in daycare settings, I was not that surprised at the significantly high detection rates of enteropathogens observed in this study. Infants frequently touch/wipe their hands on some part of their body that could potentially carry an enteropathogen. They then go on to stick their hands in their mouth and play with other infants or toys. The toys and play area are cleaned at the end of the day. However, this does little to stop the spread of infection throughout the day. One finding of this study was quite surprising. Many children that were carrying enteropathogens were asymptomatic. The study found that noroviruses and rotaviruses were the main enteropathogens that caused gastroenteritis symptoms. It will be interesting to see in future studies why viral infections seem to display symptoms more often than bacterial or parasitic infections.
http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/gastroenteritis
This was a very interesting article to read because it really opened my eyes as to how children can affect your health. I am always around children. Up until recently I was a nanny for a 1 year old and an 8 year old with down syndrome. Children are definitely not people to pay attention to health hazards and they put their hands on whatever and constantly put things in their mouths. It is a part of their curiosity and learning. Although most people understand that children have poor hygienic practices but the extent of it often goes unnoticed. It was so astonishing to see that out of the 5197 fecal samples taken it was found that 78% were shown as containing enteropathogens. This is an incredibly high number and really gives me something to think about when caring for my nephew and may own children one day.
ReplyDeleteI wash my hands a lot. I am going to sound like I am OCD when I say this, but I wash my hands when they "feel dirty." I wash them especially after using the gas pump, playing with pets, and playing with children. Now that I have read this article, I may wash them some more, just for good measure.
ReplyDeleteIt is disgusting to hear that Enteropathogens were detected in 78.0% of the 5197 fecal samples of the children from the Netherland's day care. What are these kids doing? Almost more worrisome is the fact that 95.4% of samples were obtained from children who had no gastroenteritis symptoms at time of testing. Those latent undercover bacterial agents! Yet the part that freaks me out the most is about the prevalence of parasites, like D. fragilis, which was found in 22.1%.
Few things freak me out more than parasites. Laugh if you want, but those little worms give me nightmares. Can I start wearing lab gloves all the time? Claustrophobic or not, I'd rather not get a parasite.
I can certainly say, from experience, that washing your hands before being with children, after being with children, while with children, etc. is essential. I have a 1 1/2 year old niece and a 3-month old nephew and for their sake and mine, I wash my hands constantly when I'm around them. I love them but they’re little germ factories! Furthermore, I wouldn’t want them getting any pathogens I have on my hands either.
ReplyDeleteWashing your hands is the number one way to stop the spread of germs, so naturally hand-washing should be common and consistent practice, but it should be practiced even more so around children who don’t yet understand this concept. Reason being, if they run off you have to grab their hand to stop them, and if they don’t have clean hands… Long story short, just make hand-hygiene both a priority and habit, but especially in situations that are less cleanly than others, i.e. playing with children.
Hygiene habits of children aside, this study was particularly interesting to me because of the morbidity rates of gastroenteritis in children from 0-3 years of age. Even more interesting is that enteropathogens can be present asymptomatically. Even though 78% of the fecal samples tested showed the presence of enteropathogens, 95.4% of the samples were taken from children who had zero symptoms of gastroenteritis. Furthermore, the probability of detecting viral enteropathogens decreased with increasing age. This is probably the result of learned hygiene among the older children. All in all; however, only the presence of norovirus and rotavirus (specific enteropathogens) were associated with gastroenteritis. This showed that there could be enteropathogens present without symptoms and the two major gastroenteritis symptom-causing pathogens are rotavirus and norovirus.
A lot of people are aware of the presence of microorganisms. We learn early in our lives about germs from our parents. Mothers may not know the how and where of microorganisms existence, but they still give us enough warning and enough protection. Those of us who are fortunate enough to have a biology class with Dr. Schraw definitely know enough about microorganisms to be paranoid. I know I was more concerned about what I touch and what I eat after his class. At the same time I have developed a better hygiene habits.
ReplyDeleteI was shocked by the results of this study. To have 78% of participants showing the presence of enteropathogens in a developed country like the Netherlands is very surprising. I don’t know how well they clean there day cares, but I am sure they clean them before hosting the kids. Where are these kids getting these enteropathogens? How many parents and care givers of these kids get infected with the same pathogens, how bad is it in the countries that aren't nearly as developed? I have been in what’s so called a 3rd world country long enough to see how kids are raised and the areas kids use as a playground or even the day cares. In some areas the hygiene isn't very good. However many kids play on the streets, from the time they can walk on their own until they are teenagers. Other kids play in dirt’s, muddy area or even rivers and lakes some use as restrooms. Surprisingly these kids don’t seem to get sick very often, at least to my knowledge. If I had to guess, the presence of enteropathogenes in these kids would be 100%.
As a little kid, I never understood why my great-grandmother washed her hands after her shopping excursions or visits to the hair dresser. Especially after visiting the library and handling lots of smudged, plastic-bound books, my mom would pass out wipes. I never saw the need for this, and today I wonder how many bacterial strains I must’ve harbored and how many adults contracted the flu from me on a yearly basis………The results of this study are helpful because they raise awareness about all the harmful pathogens living around us. It seems almost unavoidable that a heightened understanding of studies like this one and germ- and viral-related paranoia go hand in hand. This study is eye-opening about all the different types of microorganisms living around us, being transported by their little hosts. The fact that kids are hosts to many different kinds of microorganisms is not surprising, since they usually do gross, unsanitary things, such as touching anything and everything within arm’s reach. Most parents cringe at the thought of taking their kid into a public restroom because they literally touch everything! This article has increased my awareness of the microscopic world and will probably boost Purell stock in the near future.
ReplyDeleteMy school teacher used to say that a classroom is one of the most propense places to get sick. This is not surprising. Creating a habit of cleaning your hands is one of the most important lessons in life, perhaps we forget the importance of it. What is really concerning is the fact that most of the cases were asymptomatic. These types of diseases are the worst ones because it is like they are silent and all of the sudden you don't know what hit you. Not only the children but also the attendees have a lot to do with the passing down the enteropathogens. I wonder how would parents would feel of giving children antibiotics even though they are not able to see symptoms for gastroenteritis.
ReplyDeleteCreating awareness is what makes the difference.
To begin with, I want to say that this problem isn't just about washing your hands after you've spent time with kids, but also about helping the kids be cleaner themselves. It doesn't surprise me that kids unknowingly carry so many bacterial parasites on them. However, the fact that such a high percentage of the kids in this study had asymptomatic gastroenteritis really scares me. I mean just this morning during the church service, I stepped out to buy pizza and drinks for the kids only to return and find a couple children picking up some discarded potato chips that another kid had left on the floor. I was livid, but now I realize that it's instances like these, when kids take the five-seconds rule too far, or when they are in such a hurry to go back to playing that they forget to wash their hands, that lead to these silent diseases that are killing kids around the world.
ReplyDeleteI must say that contrary to popular belief, what they don't know is actually hurting them, and this is where society needs to step up its game. I remember growing up and seeing the commercials telling little kids to wash their hands and stay clean all the time. In church, my sunday school teacher would also teach us songs about cleanliness and godliness. This constant spiel of "why I need to wash my hands" annoyed me then, but has made me extremely cautious now. Today, however, most of those commercials have been replaced with infomercials about the latest drugs, or the premiering movies, or even the best and most affordable fast-food restaurants. It begs the question: when did these things become more important than healthy kids? In my time working with children, I have noticed that they learn a lot by watching what we do. So instead of waiting for the media to come around, I will try to change things in my own little corner of the world, by teaching my Sunday School kids, my own kids, and the kids God will send my way as a Pediatrician, the importance of clean habits, thereby possibly reducing the risk of gastroenteritis for the kids I meet.
The findings of this article does not surprise me by any means. Many pathogens are spread from child to child through direct or indirect physical contact and also through airborne methods. Most, if not all of the time, children do not have awareness of how they are contributing to the spread of pathogens because their mental abilities are not able to be conscious of such things. This is the major contributor to the spread of the pathogens. From boogies, to sneezing and coughing without containing the body fluids, to drooling, and even from having their hands in their mouth (perhaps due to teething), all affect the spread of pathogens. Most of these things serve some how, or are connected to, the gastrointestinal system. Therefore, it makes sense that the presence of enteropathogens increases in children that attend daycare.
ReplyDeleteWell this article is quite eye opening. Its not surprising, however, that children carry many pathogens on them that are potentially harmful to others given the lifestyle they live. Because they are not personally concerned with hygiene, children touch and taste everything that makes them susceptible to bacteria. However, what is fascinating is that many children carry around strands of bacteria that have no effect or display no symptoms for them, but if an adult were to come in contact with it they would become very ill. The biggest take away from this article, is that because children are unaware of the negative effects of spreading the germs that they carry, we as adults, must be extremely careful to maintain sanitation for them and for ourselves.
ReplyDelete