For the love of your fellow community: please stop bringing children with potentially serious illnesses like the flu, pneumonia and pertussis, into non-necessary public places. I understand the doctor, drug store, and grocery store, but there's no reason anyone should bring their child to storytime, the movies, or play group when they have serious contagious illnesses. Some illnesses (like the flu, pneumonia, pertussis) are airborne, meaning hand-to-hand contact isn't required for transmission. Sometimes, you just need to be in the same room. Bringing your sick child into non-necessary public places is how epidemics start. Some people are especially vulnerable to contagious illnesses and can become seriously ill very quickly, especially newborns, people with underlying illnesses (asthma, CF, autoimmune conditions, etc).
Please use common decency and consideration. Thanks. :)
ETA: In case I wasn't absolutely clear: I'm not counting a cold or simple cough, in the serious illness category. Kids colds and coughs last forever. That's not my concern. It's the more potentially serious illnesses I'm referring to. And I realize that people are contagious before they show symptoms, I mean more when parents bring out kids knowingly when they're really sick. Just this past year, we've had kids in storytime with both the flu and pneumonia. Crazy.
Edited by kdlalib - 12/21/12 at 9:15pm
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