Comments on: Dr Sister Outlaw presents: When too much hygiene is never enough

By: Zoe

Zoe — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:05:56 +0000

A bit of sticky tape and one of those plastic covered cakes from the supermarket might work, Elise – I’m pretty sure they’re not in production anywhere.

By: Elise

Elise — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:37:33 +0000

My aunty is paranoid about kids spraying a cake when they blow out the candles – we always have a joke about it. Does anyone know where I can buy one of these (as a joke Christmas present)? I’ve looked everywhere online, but can only find patents, and not anyone who has actually developed and is selling this product.

By: Francis Xavier Holden

Francis Xavier Holden — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 10:45:02 +0000

library girl@17 – I was sad some considerable years ago when my daughter informed me I couldn’t do the kinda thing ‘cos I wasn’t a “Fruit Judy”

By: Dr Sister Outlaw

Dr Sister Outlaw — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 10:16:49 +0000

Nothing gruff and humourless about that – I adopt the most terrifying expressions when confronted by anti-vaccinationists. I didn’t mean to be glib about polio.

Polio is, for those who don’t know (and a big warning here for sensitive types), is spread in traces of faecal matter. That’s why the 1950s epidemic that struck sewered first world countries, where there was plenty of fresh running water, shocked epidemiologists. It proved that hand washing alone was not enough. We aren’t out of the woods, I think from time to time it is observed in PNG, which is rather close to home, so I am grateful that my kid was offered it in his vaccination schedule. But I am still going to use the gutter immunity principle to justify my failure to sterilise combs that have fallen on the floor and other crimes.

Hope your cucumber is under control St33v!

By: St33v

St33v — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 07:05:57 +0000

I meant Not overrrun of course d’oh

By: St33v

St33v — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 07:05:11 +0000

heyas

re the ‘no polio in the slums’ comment (much earlier): In Brazil I saw plenty of favela-kids hopping about on crutches (but still playing soccer of course). I didn’t ask them, but I put it down to Polio. This was an area where the water supply failed frequently; people queued to fill buckets from a hose thrown over the wall from the yacht club.

For some reason, Polio seems to be a favorite example chosen by anti-vaccinationists; I’ve heard the opinion that its eradication from the ‘developed’ world had nothing to do with vaccines; it was a coincidental consequence of better hygeine, so take your pick. Or read ‘I can jump puddles’.

The wikipedia sez:

In 2006 only four countries in the world (Nigeria, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan) were reported to have endemic poliomyelitis.

All of these countries are overrun by coddled middle class kids, so I think its best to acknowledge that polio is a serious disease, but one which CAN be eradicated by vaccination.

I don’t mean to come over all gruff and humourless, but I think we sometimes forget how lucky we are to have access to clean water, vaccinations and antibiotics when things go wrong. Indeed, I am currently taking antibiotics for a skin infection that started with a tick bite. The swelling progressed from ‘mozzie bite’ to ‘egg’ and then to ‘cucumber’ overnight. I wasn’t willing to wait and watch where it went next.

But I agree the cake condom was just wrong!

By: Kirsty

Kirsty — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:59:13 +0000

Oh, you know the world has gone crazy when it’s only for hygiene reasons that Spam has been crossed off the list. Perhaps if it’s dipped in dettol beforehand?

Personally, I commit to working on my immunity everyday by eating something I’ve dropped on the kitchen floor first.

By: librarygirl

librarygirl — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 07:30:22 +0000

My children attended kindergarten in 1999 and 2002
When doing “fruit duty” in 1999 clean, washed hands were fine, then in 2002 disposable gloves appeared, which most of us ignored, because making a fruit platter wearing gloves is a pain.
My other beef is cooking for school fetes, election day stalls and on. Now every ingredient has to be listed and the cooks initials and phone number listed (so the bubonic plague can be traced back to its source one presumes). Some schools forbid home cooked cakes to share when your kid has a birthday, but that might be about wiping peanut butter over your implements before you begin, which of course, everyone does, don’t they?