just don’t get it

[sheri-baby]

so i see sv season is here full blast already...you would think with everyone using hand sanitizers, and seeing them everywhere, that sv's wouldn't be as common.....i think hand sanitizers are the problem....when i was growing up...i'm 38 now....if someone had an sv it was like 1 or 2 vomits usually...nowadays all i here is people are vomiting all night or for days....emergency room visits are common....outbreaks are everywhere!!!!


i don't know....i don't get it...i'm just so scared right now

[laneyb]

I know what you mean, I think the trouble nowadays (Im 37 going on 38) is that peiople have much lower levels ofhygienenow, and also if a child is sick the parents just send them back to school to spread the virus whereas in the "good oledays" kids would stay off school........


Laney xx

[dreamer]

It's definitely worse now - when I was growing up, you never heard of sv* outbreaks. And schools & hospital wards never closed because of them. I didn't get an sv* till I was 17. It's really only since around 2001 that I've been aware of it in the news, and since then it seems to be several times a year. It's terrifying.

[rubysoho120]

Well hand sanitizer does not kill the sv* so...and i think people are
too lazy to teach kids how to prevent spreading the germs...im only 21
and i never had any schools in my area or town or even county close
because of sv* outbreaks..we had one school....semi hippy school close
because of whooping cough outbreaks...people didnt want to vaccinate
their kids! But yeah....i think its more people dont wash their hands
properly. Where do you live Sheri?

[shiva]

I think one of the issues may be that back in the day many moms stayed home, so if the kids were sick it wasn't a big deal for the family to keep the kid home and in bed. Now moms 'have' to get to work, so I think they send the kid, hoping to not get called from work. It sucks. I am sure this doesn't explain all of it, but I am sure this is some of it. Also, because sanitizers don't kill sv and many people rely on them instead of old fashion hand washing (including in the classroom at school), the bugs aren't getting killed when people think they are. I also think they are just mutating and becoming stronger- this part sucks and scares me most.

[christianne]

Hi there!!

When I was younger my mother ALWAYS sent us to school if we were feeling ill.....she always told me and my sisters to "call her at noon if we weren't feeling better". It was awful!! I remember once having the regular non-v* flu so bad I could barely pick my head up. If my son is s*ck, then he stays home---that's it. That's out of respect for everyone---students, teachers and for my son as well. I couldn't imagine sending him to school ill----poor thing!! Granted my mom was divorced, worked several jobs and had really no help from our biological father, but still, come on!!! I can only imagine how many students my sisters and I infected before we called at noon to be picked up.......

[crimgoddess]

I think we also need to realize, in relation to comparing now to the past, that it was only since the 90s that they actually tested for and tracked outbreaks. Before this, there had been cases of large amounts of people becoming ill in a small radius, but investigations weren't fully done- and never would a school, ship, nursing home etc be closed down for sanitation, because they weren't fully aware of how these illnesses spread. I vividly recall times where a LOT of students were absent from school from being ill, but closing down to school as a possible source of contamination was never seen as an option then as it is now.


Also, the media never really reported on this like this- now it's become an industry that is perpetuated by fear. Before this kinda stuff wasn't deemed newsworthy- but now, it is presented in such a way as to provoke fear, and also play into advertising- ie, you NEED the purell or your family will be ill (which we know isn't true). It's just like crime- even though crime has gone down exponentially since the early 90's, studies show that people are more fearful of crime now that back then when the danger of being victimized was higher. The fact that newsreporting of crime has increased almost 700% is likely a factor in this. If you hear about it more often, and it is presented in a sensationalistic fashion, it's going to make you more scared.


I think we also need to look at what people are using in their environments. I think that we, as a whole, are getting less healthy through the use of products meant to help us. The proliferation of antibacterial everything aren't letting kids to be exposed to enough bacteria to develop immunities. Now, everything is antibacterial- from soap, to handcreme, to household cleaners, to even toothpaste. This stuff doesn't let your body "learn" how to fight off the bad stuff, so when someone (especially a kid) is exposed to it, their body goes "oh crap, what do I do now?" instead of "let's take this mo-fo DOWN!". Studies are also starting to link increases in childhood allergies and asthma with these products- scary!


*amber*

[Galadriel]

so when someone (especially a kid) is exposed to it, their body goes "oh crap, what do I do now?" instead of "let's take this mo-fo DOWN!".



*amber*

Lol I love the way you put that. [img]smileys/smilies_04.gif[/img]

[shiva]

Amber, you made some really good points. I recently read a study that said that household's that have pets are less likely to encounter gastro problems throughout the year because they are constantly being exposed to different things from the animal, which strengthens the immune system. So yeah. All of this anti bacterial over kill simply cannot be a good thing.


Wow.. It makes me sad about the allergy/ asthma thing because my daughter has asthma and I totally blame myself. I have definitely been a user of these type of supplies. However, I am starting to use less and less chemicals and antibacterial stuff and more and more elbow grease. Re-reading Alvin's posts today were a huge eye opener to me. I couldn't count the amount of times he reiterates scrub the hands with soap and water- nothing else is needed. I am sure that his advice is more reliable than a commercial's who is trying to make money off of me on their new antibacterial this and antimicrobial that. (by the way.. what's the difference between the two? anyone know?)

[sheri-baby]

yep, i do agree with all of you guys.....but i do think that exposing yourself to illness won't matter if viruses keep mutating and getting stronger...i guess it's a fact of life....i wish i could deal with it, but i can't...having 2 kids is so hard for me, everysingle day i worry....my daughter (9) hasn't been sick in almost 3 years!!....i know her time is up, it's just WHEN!....i gotta go...hubbies coming


rubysoho, i'm in hawaii...so far havn't hears of any outbreaks here.....knock on wood!

[crimgoddess]

Hehe- Galadriel, thanks [img]smileys/smilies_02.gif[/img]


Sheri- don't worry, there isn't a clock that says that someone's time is 'up'- There are a lot of people, both emet and non-emet who can go years and yearswithout being sick. It's great that your daughter has been so healthy!


Whena virusmutates, they aren't necessarily getting stronger, their makeup just changes as it passes through an individual's system. It's not necessarily stronger- it's just different, so that people who have been exposed to a previous form are no longer immune.


What exposure does is essentially teach your body how to fight off viruses and harmful bacteria- it's not necessarily becoming immune to a specific strain of something, but teaching your body what to do when it comes into contact with something that could potentially be harmful. Kind of like 'practice makes perfect'- if kids are in an environment that isn't completely sterile and where they are able to come in contact with stuff that isn't good for you, but that isn't in large enough quantities to make you sick, when they DO come in contact with the really bad stuff they are able to better fight it off, or won't get as sick as someone whose body hasn't had the same germ-fighting experience (wow, that was a hella-long sentence).


Shiva- you can't feel bad for what you didn't know. Information relating to this is only fairly recent. No one really had any idea of what these products would mean to their kids- if anything, they were created to do the opposite of what is actually occuring. It's great that you are making changes now!


And damned if I know the difference between antibacterial and microbial. Perhaps microbes are smaller than bacteria, so they are supposed to be even more 'effective' than that antibacterial garbage? Who knows, lol.


*amber*

[sheri-baby]

thank you amber, your awesome![img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]

[centipede]

I think the hand sanitizers are the problem.They may get rid of the bad bacteria but they alsoget rid ofthe 'good' bacteria that kills the bad.


I take a probiotic daily which is made up of good bacteria and enzymes that promote a healthy digestive systems.

[sage]

That's true about hand-sanitizers and anti-bacterial soaps. Also, viruses are NOT bacteria - so people have a false sense of "clean" when they use them. This also contributes to the problem.


Nevertheless, I don't really think there are more norovirus outbreaks than ever before...I just think they get reported more. I grew up in small-town Ontario, and every year "the stomach flu" went through the town, and the school. It's true that moms were home (I'm 48 now) and kids stayed home when they were sick. But they didn't close the schools because they didn't know how to stop the spread of it anyway. I don't think we even knew that you got it from other people!


EDIT: Oh ya, and I don't think the viruses are stronger now either. Back then, you were sick for 24 hours. Now...you're sick for 24 hours. Then you fight it off!Edited by: sage