As we have told you on more than one occasion, some dirt is beneficial for children because this way the immune system is activated with some germs and pathogens, and thus does not give it to attack the child itself causing allergies or autoimmune diseases.
But a little is not the same as too much, and that is why hand hygiene is still very important after going to the sink, for example, or after playing in the sandpit of the park, why it's amazing everything that can be found there.
The sandboxes are very funny
We are not saying at all that children should not use sandboxes to play, basically because it helps them a lot to develop creativity, their motor skills and even begin to interact with other children: for good and for bad, that sometimes Park fights are the worst.
But they are an important source of germs
However, as we read in Medline, it has been seen that Many sandboxes are a great source of bacteria, parasites and other infectious germs that come from animals that should not have been there (that have been able to urinate or defecate) or other children, food scraps, etc.
How many are many? Well, something more than half. In a study done here in Spain they saw that 53 percent of sandboxes they were contaminated by a rather "annoying" bacteria called Clostridium difficile (its own name already defines it), which can cause from mild diarrhea to major infections in the colon, and whose elimination is sometimes complex.
According to him Dr. José Blanco, researcher in this study, can not be considered to be something alarming in reality:
We have many pathogenic bacteria around us. We have to live with them, and we learn to live with them. This study shows the wide distribution of these bacteria in the environment, and the need for further studies to clarify their presence in our communities.
Although it is true that sometimes infection with this bacterium can be difficult to cure, because in addition to being "peleona", it can be resistant to antibiotics, being healing for weeks (sometimes, as I said a few days ago, it is even assessed the possibility of doing a stool transplant).
Other pathogens that can be found in sandboxes
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US, you can also find the Toxoplasma gondii, guilty of toxoplasmosis, eggs of the Ascaris parasite and worms such as pinworms (which in both cases will cause worms).
What does this mean? Well, if children take sand to their mouths, or if after playing in a sandbox they put their hands to their mouths, they could suffer some type of infection due to these pathogens.
That's why the ideal is wash your hands before playing in the sandbox (if you can, by not contaminating it), and above all wash your hands after, to avoid being sucked dirty, or eat any food that could contaminate the remains of the sandbox.
Of course, we should add the cleaning and maintenance of the sandbox by the municipalities, but this escapes our control as parents.
Photos | iStock
In Babies and more | Too much hygiene weakens the immune system, Babies with excessive hygiene, less protected babies, Six tips for acquiring hygiene habits in childhood
