Baby_and_Toddler

Protection in your baby and toddler's environment

A heathly adult immune system

The human immune system is an amazing thing. Its essential
task is to recognise anything that gets into the body, and
then determine if it is a good or harmful thing. If it detects
harmful microorganisms or "germs" then it can react by
launching a defence against them. For example, white blood
cells directly attack the invaders while other cells produce
antibodies (types of proteins) that fight the infection.

A baby's immune system

Unfortunately, a baby's immune system is not fully developed
until it is about six months old, so during this time it is at
greater risk of catching and fighting off an infection.

A foetus in its mother's womb receives immunoglobulin
antibodies from its mother's bloodstream through the
placenta. The placenta is basically the life-support system
for the foetus. These immunoglobulin antibodies are an
important part of the foetus's defence against infections,
because it does not yet produce them in significant numbers
itself.

At the time of birth, a baby has high levels of its mother's
antibodies in its system to help it fight infections. These
antibodies can also pass immunity to the baby from any
illnesses that the mother possesses immunity to.

These antibodies are essentially 'borrowed' from the
mother. So over time, these antibodies decrease in number,
leaving the baby at more risk of infection. However, breast
milk also contains these antibodies and so is really helpful
for protecting the baby from infections. Once breastfeeding
stops, babies are more at risk of infection than healthy
adults, particularly from bacterial infections, until their own
immune systems are fully developed.

So, our immune systems are protecting us from developing
infections from harmful microorganisms, commonly referred
to as germs. This is a rather vague and unscientific term, to
help clarify the situation we have explained what germs
really are. Click here to find out more.

Toddlers and infections

Well known for putting everything in their mouths, toddlers
are at risk of introducing harmful microorganisms to their
bodies. Also, once breast feeding has stopped, young
children are no longer receiving protective antibodies from
their mother, so their immune systems are weaker than that
of a healthy adults. Because of these factors, it is important
to shield your little ones from these pathogens by regularly
disinfecting their environment. Hard surfaces including
plastic toys can be disinfected to the highest level with our
Protect Foam.

Minimising the risk of infection

As mentioned above, breastfeeding helps to boost a baby's
immune system. This is because the mother is essentially
sharing her own immune system with her baby's. This will
help a baby to deal with harmful microorganisms that may
invade its body, which is why breastfeeding is advised. It's also a good idea to simply keep a baby out of harm's way to
minimise the risk of an infection. Here are some tips and
background information that should help:

Regularly clean and disinfect the surfaces in your
home

Surfaces in yours and your baby's environment are a
breeding ground for bacteria, especially if they are not
cleaned and disinfected properly. If ordinary household
cleaning products are used, then it is important to follow the
manufacturer's instructions properly, especially noting the
contact time of the disinfectant with the objects being disinfected.

The product packaging should state the types of germs that
it can destroy. It should also state the contact time, this is the
time that it takes the disinfectant to destroy those germs.
During the contact time period, the surface that the disinfectant has been applied to will need to remain in contact with the chemicals in the disinfectant to work. So if a product has a 40 minute contact time, then you must keep that surface in contact with the right concentration of product for the specified 40 minutes.

If a product does not specify a contact time, then you cannot
be sure how long it needs to work, and therefore proper
disinfection is virtually impossible. Be sure to choose a
product with a contact time that is practical for use. The
shorter the better!

The Tristel Deeper Clean Gel and Protect Foam have been
clinically proven by independent testing to be sporicidal in
30 seconds. This is incredibly fast, and something that no
other product that is safe and easy to use in the home can
match.

If a product simply makes a claim that it "kills all toilet
germs", or "99.9% of germs" then you cannot really be sure
what it is capable of. This is because the term "germ" is not
scientific. The manufacturer could mean that it just kills
viruses or bacteria, or both. These kind of misleading
statements are not very helpful, because they do not say
what kinds of microorganisms will or won't be destroyed.

So it is important to select products that specifically mention
their capabilities, and have been proven to be "virucidal",
"fungicidal", "bactericidal" and/or "sporicidal" by
independent tests. As mentioned before, if a product claims
to be sporicidal, then it should also be virucidal, fungicidal,
and bactericidal too. This is because bacterial spores are
more resistant to disinfectants.

Safety

Safety is also an important issue for parents, as their
children and babies may come into contact directly or
indirectly with the disinfection chemicals. Therefore it is
important to use products that do not contain harmful
chemicals, especially on surfaces that are likely to be
touched by hand.

Trigger sprays

Trigger heads for spray disinfectants have also been
banned by some organisations because of their suspected link to asthma. Trigger sprays produce aerosol droplets that can then be breathed in, allowing the chemicals to reach
the lungs and damage them.

Ideal disinfection products

The ideal surface disinfection products therefore should:

• Have short contact times, so that using them is practical,
especially for a busy parent.

• Be safe and easy to use, and not contain harmful
chemicals.

• Not produce aerosol droplets when they are applied.

• Be capable of killing viruses, fungi, bacteria,
mycobacteria, and the germs that most disinfectants can't
destroy; bacterial spores.

• Be capable of cleaning and disinfecting, so that only one
product is needed.

High risk areas - Germ Hot-Spots!

It is important that the surfaces parents come into contact
with are cleaned and disinfected, and not just the surfaces
babies come into contact with directly. Parents will inevitably
transfer germs from one surface to another, and also to their
baby if their environment is not disinfected thoroughly and
regularly. Take a look at our Germ-Spots page for more
information.

Hand washing

There are four main ways in which germs are spread; by air,
by water, by skin/touch and by surfaces. Hand washing is
therefore essential for minimising the risk of transferring
germs by touching a baby. Many people rush hand washing,
and do not wash thoroughly or for long enough. Here is a
link to a PDF from the NHS that shows exactly how hands
should be washed properly.

Washing hands with plain soap and hot water basically
washes germs off the skin. Using hot water will actually kill
some of the germs too. Some soaps and hand gels
possess the power to kill viruses and bacteria, so
occasional use of these products in addition to regular hand
washing is advisable.

Unfortunately, there are currently no hand-disinfectants that
destroy bacterial spores.

When to specifically wash your hands

Hands can become particularly contaminated with germs in
the following example situations:

• When preparing food - wash hands before and after
preparing food for yourself or your baby.

• When using the toilet - wash hands after using the toilet.

• When changing your baby's nappy - wash hands after
changing your baby's nappy.

• When in contact with bodily fluids (e.g. faeces, vomit,
blood) - wash hands after contact.

• When touching pets or animals - wash hands after.

• When giving medication - wash hands before and after.

• When hands actually look visibly dirty - wash them.

Avoid ill people

It's best to avoid people who are unwell by keeping yourself and baby away from them. People with snotty, runny noses, sneezes, and coughs, are likely to be launching germs into the air that you or your baby may inhale. They are also likely to have passed the germs that are making them ill onto their hands, and therefore the surfaces that they touch, further increasing the routes of infection transmission. So stay away from them!

Avoid children (if you can)

Children are a group that spend a lot of time being
contagious with one form of common cold virus or another.
So just like avoiding ill people, avoid children too.

Hygienic nappy changing

During the nappy changing process, the risk of transferring
germs from the hands to surfaces is high. Therefore it is important to follow these guidelines:

• Make sure that the surface used to change your baby on is
clean and disinfected before changing takes place.

• Never change a baby on the same surface that food is
prepared on.

• Reusable nappies should be emptied down the toilet, as
should the disinfection residue used to clean the nappies.
Never use the sink.

• Clean and disinfect the waterproof nappy changing mats,
other surfaces that the baby may be changed on, and the
areas surrounding them thoroughly afterwards.

• After changing your baby, your hands should be washed with hot soapy water.

How Tristel products can help

This helpful information has been provided by Tristel, who
are a leading infection and contamination control business
based in Newmarket, United Kingdom. Tristel's leading
technology uses a proprietary chlorine dioxide formulation,
and is used to disinfect medical instruments and surfaces in
hospitals and to control legionella in water. Tristel's
disinfectants are used in more than 700 UK hospitals, in
many different departments to help protect the most
vulnerable patients from infection.

In the healthcare industry, Tristel's chlorine dioxide products
are considered to be amongst the highest performing
disinfectants available to hospitals. And independent tests
have shown that they are sporicidal, bactericidal, fungicidal
and virucidal in a 30 second contact time. Tristel's special formulation of chlorine dioxide is deadly to microorganisms but totally safe for humans and animals.

Tristel have created a new range of products for the home
called Protect. The range contains a Sporicidal Foamer and
large sized Bactericidal Wipes that clean and disinfect. The
sporicidal foamer is specially designed to not produce any
aerosol droplets when used, and is capable of destroying all
harmful microorganisms that a child or baby may come into
contact with on surfaces. This includes the Norovirus, also known as the 'winter vomiting virus' and C. diff bacteria and spores.

Babies, especially premature babies, are extremely
vulnerable to this kind of infection, because of their weak
immune systems. The Norovirus for example, can survive for
long periods of time in the environment, and only 10-100
virus particles are needed to cause an infection. That is why
these viruses spread so easily. Cleaning with Tristel
products is the most effective form of defence against them,
and because they are quick, safe and easy to use, they are
ideal for use in a baby's environment, both inside and
outside the home.

The Protect range of disinfectants for hospitals is used in
special care units for premature and sick babies. This
includes using the products on the units' specialist
incubators.