Bravo!Of course, I kiss Bad Boy..and my husband, when he's being 'good'!

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Posted by Thumper on April 12, 2000 at 23:47:22:

In Reply to: can you stand one more ramble about Salmonella???? posted by iZ's mom on April 12, 2000 at 12:48:23:

: salmonella ~ like i said earlier, the topic makes me *nuts*! the press releases get people over-reacting to both salmonella *and* reptiles ... grrrrr ... reptiles are waaaaaay down at the bottom of the list as far as what caused someone to get salmonella!

: this is *not* to say that salmonella is not an important issue, it is ... but for the most part, it merely requires using common sense ... especially in preventing it's spread from ig to human ... wash your hands! rinse the tub with bleach! don't put ig dishes in the stack with human dishes! don't kiss your ig and then kiss the baby human or grandpa right after that ... simple stuff!

: for the most part, salmonella is a self-resolving disease ... if an otherwise healthy person gets it, they get tummy cramps + the trots for a 1/2 day to a couple of days and then it's done, no big deal, no treatment needed except extra fluids to replace what you're losing, same as any other case of tummy-itis ... antibiotics or anti-microbials are *not given or necessary* because they do *not* shorten the duration of the disease and can actually prolong the duration of excretion of salmonella organisms ... *UNLESS* the person is an infant or has immune system problems, the salmonella will play itself out ...

: on the other side of that ... i work in a Pediatric ICU + in the last 2 yrs have seen 3 children admitted with the primary diagnosis of salmonella, it *does* have the *potential* to be life-threatening ... (none of the cases were caused by reptiles, btw) ... the problems arise when the body's immune system isn't strong enough to withstand a major bout of diarrhea and� the intestines/colon becomes inflammed, irritated and then infected from the fecal matter ... this secondary infection can then spread throughout the body (sepsis) and *can* be deadly ... but it's because the human in question was in a weakened state to begin with, either due to age or other chronic illness factors ... again, common sense is the key word!

: the docs + nurses i work with (not to mention my *mom*!) are all horrified that iZ bathes in the same tub as i do ... **OMG!!! you don't put the grand-toddler in there too do you!?!?!?** (my son's step-daughter, so this is a relatively new issue) ... they seem to think that i should be in a full-body biohazard suit, complete with respirator, whenever handling iZ ... and with my grand-*baby* due next month, they are horrified to the point of being speechless (thank goddess!) that i do not plan on getting rid of that dangerous animal ....

: *sigh*

: little Sara met iZ when she was 16 mo ... when she is around, the only time i handle iZ, is to bring him down from his room and give him his bath + then he perches on his livingroom basking shelf til bed time ... Sara is allowed to stand + watch the '*dwaaagun*" take his bath, but don't touch the tub! (which is also largely for iZ's peace of mind, he doesn't need her waving her bottle in his face!) ... after iZ is up on his shelf, i change shirts, i wash the tub with bleach, scrub my hands and go play with Sara ... she is not allowed near him more out of the chance of him nipping at her than getting cooties ... she is in *awe* of mamaw's dwaaagun and her little face positively lights up and *glows* when iZ comes downstairs! she has sat quietly in a chair when mamaw had to give the dwaaagun his bah-dough and watched while i syringe fed iZ when he was sick ... point of this rambling is that little kids *can* and *should be* taught that reptiles get *much* more respect than the poor bunny + puppy do ... ya don't touch the dragon, they are special and not for just anybody ... hey, i'm raising a new generation of herpers!!!

: nope, i'm not done yet!

: another thing that really� bugs me is the statistics these articles on salmonella throw around ... *where* do they get the numbers!?!?!? in reading CDC's pages, the number of reported cases of salmonella in the US ranges from 40,000 a year to 8 million, depending on which article you read!!! even the CDC can't get their numbers in control, that difference in numbers just borders on the ridiculous IMHO ...

: also, remember, it is pretty easy to manipulate stats to make them show what *you* want them to show ... (trust me, i aced my stats class in college) ... numbers by themselves just don't mean alot ...

: and yes, i kiss iZ!

: *stepping off soapbox*

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: : salmonella ~ like i said earlier, the topic makes me *nuts*! the press releases get people over-reacting to both salmonella *and* reptiles ... grrrrr ... reptiles are waaaaaay down at the bottom of the list as far as what caused someone to get salmonella! : : this is *not* to say that salmonella is not an important issue, it is ... but for the most part, it merely requires using common sense ... especially in preventing it's spread from ig to human ... wash your hands! rinse the tub with bleach! don't put ig dishes in the stack with human dishes! don't kiss your ig and then kiss the baby human or grandpa right after that ... simple stuff! : : for the most part, salmonella is a self-resolving disease ... if an otherwise healthy person gets it, they get tummy cramps + the trots for a 1/2 day to a couple of days and then it's done, no big deal, no treatment needed except extra fluids to replace what you're losing, same as any other case of tummy-itis ... antibiotics or anti-microbials are *not given or necessary* because they do *not* shorten the duration of the disease and can actually prolong the duration of excretion of salmonella organisms ... *UNLESS* the person is an infant or has immune system problems, the salmonella will play itself out ... : : on the other side of that ... i work in a Pediatric ICU + in the last 2 yrs have seen 3 children admitted with the primary diagnosis of salmonella, it *does* have the *potential* to be life-threatening ... (none of the cases were caused by reptiles, btw) ... the problems arise when the body's immune system isn't strong enough to withstand a major bout of diarrhea and� the intestines/colon becomes inflammed, irritated and then infected from the fecal matter ... this secondary infection can then spread throughout the body (sepsis) and *can* be deadly ... but it's because the human in question was in a weakened state to begin with, either due to age or other chronic illness factors ... again, common sense is the key word! : : the docs + nurses i work with (not to mention my *mom*!) are all horrified that iZ bathes in the same tub as i do ... **OMG!!! you don't put the grand-toddler in there too do you!?!?!?** (my son's step-daughter, so this is a relatively new issue) ... they seem to think that i should be in a full-body biohazard suit, complete with respirator, whenever handling iZ ... and with my grand-*baby* due next month, they are horrified to the point of being speechless (thank goddess!) that i do not plan on getting rid of that dangerous animal .... : : *sigh* : : little Sara met iZ when she was 16 mo ... when she is around, the only time i handle iZ, is to bring him down from his room and give him his bath + then he perches on his livingroom basking shelf til bed time ... Sara is allowed to stand + watch the '*dwaaagun*" take his bath, but don't touch the tub! (which is also largely for iZ's peace of mind, he doesn't need her waving her bottle in his face!) ... after iZ is up on his shelf, i change shirts, i wash the tub with bleach, scrub my hands and go play with Sara ... she is not allowed near him more out of the chance of him nipping at her than getting cooties ... she is in *awe* of mamaw's dwaaagun and her little face positively lights up and *glows* when iZ comes downstairs! she has sat quietly in a chair when mamaw had to give the dwaaagun his bah-dough and watched while i syringe fed iZ when he was sick ... point of this rambling is that little kids *can* and *should be* taught that reptiles get *much* more respect than the poor bunny + puppy do ... ya don't touch the dragon, they are special and not for just anybody ... hey, i'm raising a new generation of herpers!!! : : nope, i'm not done yet! : : another thing that really� bugs me is the statistics these articles on salmonella throw around ... *where* do they get the numbers!?!?!? in reading CDC's pages, the number of reported cases of salmonella in the US ranges from 40,000 a year to 8 million, <i>depending on which article you read!!!</i> even the CDC can't get their numbers in control, that difference in numbers just borders on the ridiculous IMHO ... : : also, remember, it is pretty easy to manipulate stats to make them show what *you* want them to show ... (trust me, i aced my stats class in college) ... numbers by themselves just don't mean alot ... : : and yes, i kiss iZ! : : *stepping off soapbox*

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