This archive report was first published on 28 June 2020.
With the world in lockdown, parents are scratching their heads wondering how their kids are still getting sick. The answer lies in the way germs spread and the long incubation periods of many infections.
Take the case of Karen Benavidez's 3-year-old daughter, who developed scabs on her face two months into the quarantine. Benavidez, a resident of Tallahassee, Florida, was perplexed by the sudden appearance of the scabs, which a neighbor identified as impetigo, a bacterial skin infection.
Benavidez's pediatrician explained that the bacteria that cause impetigo can live in people's noses and then inadvertently infect the skin through cuts or scratches. This is not an isolated incident, as many infections and infestations have long incubation periods, meaning it takes a while from the time a child is exposed until they start showing symptoms.
Parents Spread Germs Too ¶
Even though families are isolating, they're not completely cut off from outside germs. Parents who go to stores periodically can be exposed to viruses or bacteria that they then bring back to their kids, even if they themselves never get sick.
Dr. Clay Jones, a pediatric and newborn hospitalist at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Mass., shared a common scenario: 'Dad runs to the grocery store and gets something on his hands and comes back in and gives the kid a hug right when he walks in, before he washes — and there's a kid who hasn't been around anyone but all of a sudden has a cold.'
Adults can also shed germs from previous infections and unwittingly make their children sick. For example, roseola, a common infection in kids under 2, is caused by human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6), a virus that can live dormant inside our cells after we recover from it. When this virus gets reactivated, adults can shed it and infect their young children.
