Too clean!

[Whyisitsodifficult]

Do you think that with everyone being overly cautious with cleaning and hand washing, sterilising, alcohol gel, disinfecting etc that we’ll be heading towards more problems? You quite often read about children not having the same immunity as we overly sanitise everything compared to the ‘a bit of dirt never did me any harm generation’.
Some even blaming this for the increase in allergies etc..

I genuinely worry that we’re gearing up for more problems due to our obsession with overly cleaning and anti bacterial wiping everything!

Not in my house. We haven’t been out for weeks so barely wash any more!

I can see your point though. It’s a bit like when washing machines came in and after one generation people had started to wash their towels and bedding weekly. Too early to say yet but it is a risk imo.

I think there is a real chance of more people developing an OCD as regards to handwashing, cleaning, disinfecting and so on. Germ phobia.

Germ phobia is a concern for me. When the schools go back half the kids will be licking textbooks for a laugh, the other curled up in the corner, terrified to come out.

I don't see handwashing as a problem in general (with some exceptions for people who have OCD and wash until their skin is raw). But I think Mumsnet is often a place where people find other like minded people and it normalises what is actually quite extreme behaviour. Even in normal times I see a lot of germ phobia on here - an absolute terror of washing different items together in a washing machine for example, or horror at using a bar of soap instead of liquid.

It’s scary isn’t it, we’re told to wash our hands all the time and we’re all avoiding people. When we do start to come back together it won’t be just Covid to think about, our immunity will be taking a bashing from all the other germs that we ‘should’ be normally exposed to!
Especially children who need that interaction and exposure to build up their immune system. Do you think we’ll have a generation of kids that won’t have great immunity because of this overly clean bubble we’re encouraging?

I'm idly wondering what's happened to nits?will they die out with no contact?!

I wash tea towels and underpants in the same wash. Am pretty sure we will be ok.

Yes it’s something I was wondering about as well. All this extra cleaning and are we cleaning away too many germs that actually we need to let children build up natural
Immunity to? Not right now as obviously Covid-19 still quite at a height and hand hygiene critical but will it last long term and therefore children’s immune systems don’t develop as strongly? I was starting to really cut down on anti-bac use as don’t think it’s good for us - hot soapy water is fine but I am using more than ever. And that’s just normal
Usage not obsessive levels. I think there will
be a massive increase in Germ phonics and genuine OCD cases surrounding hand washing and hygiene and also just being “near” people.

Germ phobics even!

@peajotter

🤣😆😁

You made me laugh with the ‘since lockdown we barely wash!’

Presumably, you meant you barely wash your hands. 😁

Now nits that would be great if they died out!

Ive wondered about the nits! Surely people have got this under control now!

I worry about the community immunity type thing. I’m a teacher and have built up a good immunity to local pathogens. Fresher flu is a real thing when lots of students mingle from different areas and I think there will be a similAt period of ‘fresher flu’ type thing when we all start mingling again. I’m fine with lots of hand washing but over use of sanitiser and bleach etc worries me a lot.

Death to nits ! Are there any advantages to nits, or are they like wasps and utterly useless?

At any rate - I do worry that some children will get very OCD and fearful of taking risks in general - but I think that might be 20% nature and 80% how their parents handle this. And parents who are now really fearful seem to be the ones who were very anxious to begin...

I’m fine with lots of hand washing but over use of sanitizer and bleach etc., worries me a lot

Yes. Wondering how our pediatrician will advise at well child check ups later this summer...

Do you think that with everyone being overly cautious with cleaning and hand washing, sterilising, alcohol gel, disinfecting etc

Don’t worry, it very much isnt everyone. Lots of people are still disgusting.

@Haggisfish ‘fresher flu’ I’ve not heard of that but makes total sense. I wonder once the world starts to piece together again and we return to work/school people will either be more germ phobic or think it’s ok and not clean as much. It’s a fine line between sensible precautions and disinfecting everything. We need to have some germs or we’ll have to start living in plastic bubbles! I can see a massive spike of colds/sickness in school returners because of the long time spent apart.

On the other hand I have a condition which means virtually no immune system, and I've spent 30 years knee deep in horse shit/hay/sharing apples with horses
So I never did the overly clean thing and still have a shite immune system. I do rarely get stomach type bugs though so every cloud...

Fresher flu! Affects new teachers when they start teaching as well.

There's too clean in relation to general germs.

5 second rule, playing in puddles, garden dirty hands eating sandwiches, even picking nose and eating it, which is inherently healthy and helps build up immune system.

And then there is viral cleanliness, not just CV19, but common cold and flu etc. Hand washing when coming in from handling things that have been recently handled by others outwith our own circle. I think that will hopefully last. I haven't always been best for it but it, to me, does make sense.

I'm not worried about my own children tbh, grubby little so and so's... One licked the other's nose last week. They're 9 & 10, not 2 & 3 . Both are nail biters too. And the youngest has had a snotty nose for 3 weeks, despite us not going anywhere for the last 8..

Yes I wonder about about another round of freshers flu too.
I'm a -new this academic year- TA and was ill from October to December, then mid Jan to well after lockdown with various illnesses, most of which had Corona like symptoms. I'm hoping for a marginally easier ride when we go back with SD.

Yep I worry about this too. I’ve had OCD around germs - now controlled so whilst cautious about washing hands - don’t want to do anything more as will send me down a route that will be hard to come back from.

Hopefully our nursery will open on 1st June and one of the reasons DS will be attending is for general immunity - he was just starting to build it up before lockdown - not a sniffle since - so I’m worried that he’s just not getting exposed to ‘normal’ germs - even though he’s still playing in the garden etc.

I think also I’d rather he goes back now whilst people are slowly returning to things rather than say September when there might be a huge surge of kids returning to childcare.

Bracing myself for the inevitable runny nose and colds though

Presumably, you meant you barely wash your hands.

Haha
I have gone from 10 baths and 5 hair wash a week to about 5 baths and 2-3 hair wash.

@Haggisfish I always had a brilliant immune system even though I used the train and the tube travelling through London for work. But I moved areas and now work in the new area I live in too. I have been constantly ill with a cold for the last few years. I catch everything. It's fascinating grim.

I doubt that all the hand washing is going to make a difference to things like allergies.,
What may do, I suspect, is the obsessive uber-hygiene that seems to be common among MNers even in normal times - disinfecting/bleaching everything, not to mention all the chemicals in cleaning sprays and fluids.