Yes, Shigella is going around, Shigella are bacteria that can infect the digestive tract and cause a wide range of symptoms, from diarrhea, cramping, vomiting, and nausea, to more serious complications and illnesses. Infections, called shigellosis, sometimes go away on their own; while other times, antibiotics can shorten the course of the illness. Shigellosis, usually affects kids 2 to 4 years old and rarely infects infants younger than 6 months old. These infections are very contagious and can be prevented with good hand washing practices.
Prevention
The best way to prevent the spread of Shigella is by frequent and careful hand washing with soap, especially after they use the toilet and before they eat. This is especially important in childcare settings.
If you're caring for a child who has diarrhea, wash your hands before touching other people and before handling food. (Anyone with a diarrhea should not prepare food for others.) Be sure to frequently clean and disinfect any toilet used by someone with shigellosis.
Diapers of a child with shigellosis should be disposed of in a sealed garbage can, and the diaper area should be wiped with disinfectant after use. Young children (especially those still in diapers) with shigellosis or with diarrhea of any cause should be kept away from other kids.
Contagiousness
Shigellosis is very contagious. Someone may become infected by coming into in contact with something contaminated by stool from an infected person. This includes toys, surfaces in restrooms, and even food prepared by someone who is infected. For instance, kids who touch a contaminated surface such as a toilet or toy and then put their fingers in their mouths can become infected. Shigella can even be carried and spread by flies that have touched contaminated stool. Because it doesn't take many Shigella bacteria to cause an infection, the illness spreads easily in families and childcare centers. The bacteria also may spread in water supplies in areas with poor sanitation. Shigella can be passed in the person's stool for about 4 weeks even after the obvious symptoms of illness have resolved (although antibiotic treatment can reduce the excretion of Shigella bacteria in the stool).
http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/shigella.html#
The problem is many Chassideshe shuls and yeshivos Beshita do not allow hand soap in their shuls or Mosdos as they hold it is Goyish (in the heim they did not use hand soap)
ReplyDeletein the heim they also rode horse and buggys
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