How do I protect the kids

[BergamotMouse]

So after 2.5 years DH and I have finally caught Covid for the first time.
Feeling pretty poorly. Temp of 40. Dreadful cough. But we have 2 kids, 6 and 3.
Do we just accept there's nothing we can do? I can't let them fend for themselves but feel bad filling the room with coughs.

For all we know they've given it to us (haven't tested them).

Last time I had Covid didn't isolate from family and only precaution we took was keeping windows open, no one else caught it ( though DS may have given it to me).

nothing much you can do except ventilation and basic hygiene precautions , with a 3 year old you can't do much else if you are both poorly...and they are highly likely to have had it already if they are in school or nursery.

Windows open and those who have covid to wear masks as much as possible. If you have more than one bathroom then use a different one for the kids than you use yourselves.

Covid is a minor illness for kids, proceed in the same way you would with a cold.

I would just sanitise all the touch points regularly, open the windows and get on with it.

I'm afraid the chances are you have probably already given it to them although DH had it for the third time in June and I didn't catch it this time (I've had it twice).

I hope you feel better soon!

They won't necessarily get it. My three year old (at the time) had it and I was literally brushing his teeth and wiping his bum etc and I never caught it. Similarly earlier this year 4 of us in the house had Covid (a few of us have had it twice) and my 7 year old didn't catch it. We took no precautions within the house at all.

My kids have all had it and only the youngest was noticeably unwell. One of them was totally asymptomatic.

Try not to worry.

Only 1 pit of 4 of us had it and we didn’t isolate them. It was when the rest of us were testing regularly for work and school too.

I would try to keep the house well ventilated but apart from that there’s not a lot you can do.

get well soon op. x

I really wouldn't worry if they get it. Very mild for children and it will build up their immune system. Hope you feel better soon x

I had, my two DC didn't catch it and I took no precautions at all.

You can absolutely protect your kids. Wear a well-fitted N95 mask (i.e. if it's fogging your glasses it's not creating a seal) and ventilate (open doors and windows so that outside air flows in to dilute the viral load) and if possible run air purifiers or look up how to make a Corsi Rosenthal box with a box fan and HEPA filters. Your children can mask up to, it's not going to damage them in any way and will protect them. There's not reason to infect them if you take the necessary measures.

I can't believe this "isn't mild for children" nonsense is still being trotted out, not to mention the fact that there are so many variants that immunity doesn't do much. Firstly, COVID kills more children than flu. Secondly, it causes vascular damage (to the blood vessels) and therefore increases the chance of heart damage, stroke, kidney, liver, eye, dental damage... the list goes on. No infection is beneficial for children.

Bullshit it kills more children than flu. Mist kids have had it and we have loads of good data showing they're fine.

Data from the US clearly shows it kills more children. "These irrefutable figures, reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reveal that last year [2021], pediatric Covid-19 deaths were around 490% that of pediatric flu deaths in a typical 21st century season". insidemedicine.bulletin.com/delta-and-omicron-killed-far-more-children-than-flu-ever-does/

There is no benefit to letting your child get infected if you can avoid it. Thankfully, they are unlikely to die, but there is a chance of long term effects and every re-infection increases that risk.

gosh I'm sad you are still so scared,I hate to think of what life you are living. You said that "no infection is beneficial for children".... it's essential that kids do get infections otherwise their immune system doesn't develop! The death rate amongst adults (and sadly some children) was precisely because they'd never been exposed to this virus; our children will slowly develop greater tolerance of covid as they do for any common circulating bug. Have you never heard of the wipe outs due to common infections brought in by Europeans that happened in history when settlers moved into lands occupied by indigenous people??!

You come across as well informed @ThaiDye. Of course covid can be harmful to kids. They are not super human with different organs to the rest of humanity etc.

Thank you, I'm keeping a close eye on the research and it's not good news. COVID infection offers pretty much no immunity because new variants are immune evasive. Unlike @2022again I do not want my child to be unecessarily infected with a virus that could leave him disabled with long COVID, and each reinfection increases that risk. Unfortunately the government decided to adopt a "let it rip" approach, at what cost to our children? It's a shame the government has failed us on public health, in the pay of organisations like UsForThem that are promoting disinformation and anti-vax messages.

and how exactly are you stopping your child from being exposed to COVID ...unless you are not sending them to school or having any social contact with other people?? genuinely interested!!!

They won't even put HEPA filters in classrooms. When I look at how much we can spend on screwing up the country and how measly we are with kids and education, it's horrid. As for UsForThem - their misinformation is well known I think.

Wrote a long reply but looks like it didn't post. In short:

1. He's a toddler, outdoor playgroups only, not without risk but better than enclosed spaces.
2. I protect myself and by extension him by wearing an n95 mask indoors with others
3. I have a Smart Air QT3 portable air purifier for his pram.
4. We need to keep pushing for indoor air purifiers and ventilation especially in schools, basically any location where smoking would be forbidden needs better air. Look up cleanaircrew.org/box-fan-filters/ and push your school to take this seriously. They benefit by having fewer teachers off sick.
5. There's a difference between the immunity conferred by dirt outside and from repeat infection. Exposure to dirt is good in various ways, repeat exposure to covid confers zero benefits.

Also, there's no need for kids to be endlessly sick with RSV and all the respiratory viruses. If schools sorted out their air quality they wouldn't continue to be cesspits of infection that make everyone else in their families sick by extension. Why have we accepted this as normal for so long?

Are you keeping your children at home at all times?

@ThaiDye are you keeping your children at home at all times?

See my response above.

@ThaiDye I just did some very quick research, and accept that the data sources aren't over the same time periods, but this seems to call your assertions into question.

www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transparencyandgovernance/freedomofinformationfoi/covid19deathsinukforchildrenfromages0to19sincemarch2020
Covid Deaths by age group 3 Jan 2020 to 7 May 2021
<1 2
1-4 1
5-9 3
10-14 9
15-19 22

v

jech.bmj.com/content/59/7/586
in England over winters 1989/90 to 1999/00
Main results: Average winter respiratory deaths attributed to influenza in children 1 month–14 years were 22 and to RSV 28; and all cause deaths to influenza 78 and to RSV 79.