Dr. Lynn Cates
Specializing in pediatric infectious diseases and childhood immunizations.
|
|
 Ask Dr. Cates
Daughter Put Her Hand in the Toilet and then Her Mouth | | | QUESTION | | | Dear Dr. Cates,
My daughter put her hand in the toilet, and then put it in her mouth. Will she get sick?— Frustrated Dad in W.VA | | | ANSWER |
June 22, 2001 | | | Dear Frustrated Dad,
Although I would never go so far as to call toilet water the beverage of choice for toddlers, it is highly unlikely that your daughter will get sick from putting a little in her mouth--particularly if it came from a toilet in your own home. If that is the case, she is likely to have had close contact--and therefore developed some immunity to--the germs on other family members' bodies. If your daughter was on vacation in a developing country and pulled the same trick, I would be much more concerned because there is a higher rate of gastrointestinal germs that she probably has not encountered.
Although we go to great lengths to avoid knowingly eating germs--and drinking toilet water--fortunately the saliva in our mouths is equipped with antibodies and other substances that help kill the vast majority of organisms we eat before they have a chance to make us sick. In addition, stomach acid gets most of the germs that survive our saliva.
This episode is a good reminder that the bathroom is a place where young children can get into a lot of trouble. I am relieved that your inquisitive daughter reached in to touch the water and didn't fall in headfirst. In developed countries like the United States, drowning poses a much greater risk to children than bathroom germs. You can look on this adventure as a great reminder to childproof your bathroom--as well as do a safety check of the rest of your house and yard.— by Lynn Cates, M.D., F.A.A.P. |
|
