COVID-19

COVID-19. It's everywhere either literally or figuratively. If you're like a couple friends of mine who have been looking for some scientific perspective, you're probably worried about how you can protect your kids. I'd like to do what little I can to shed some light on that. Before I start, I'd like to make a little disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor, or epidemiologist. If you have significant concerns of any form, you're best bet is to get it from the source.

For the disease itself, I'll leave the important information to the CDC. Their info is likely to be the most robust and is concise enough for any level of understanding. They'll also keep it updated so it'll be the most relevant. Obviously, following their recommendations is probably your best bet. Though avoiding the disease should be your number one goal, the recorded cases in children have largely presented as mild. So unless your child is immunocompromised, they will likely weather the storm better than you.

But you're a parent. You don't want your kid to have to weather anything. So what can you do? Well the CDC recommends a few things that I'll reiterate and expand upon here.

Clean hands often using soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

This one is being screamed from the rooftops of every major social media website. And for good reason. Obviously, the virus can't penetrate the skin. But it can live on it. And if you touch your face (which I'm going to take a risky guess and say your kids do) they can pass the viral particles to the susceptible mucus membranes in the eyes, nose, and mouth. This is especially important before eating for the same reason.

Avoid people who are sick (coughing and sneezing)

This one should be pretty obvious. This is a highly communicable disease and people with mild symptoms may not know if it is just a common cold or this virus. Additionally, people may be able to spread the disease without symptoms. General social distancing is the current recommendation. This is why schools and conferences are shutting down. Though this is a really unfortunate measure to have to take (economically speaking) it could be much worse if the healthcare system gets overtaxed.

Clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces daily in household common areas.

This is one that has come up in conversation with a couple of friends. It's important to discuss as the virus can hang around for days. I'm sure everyone has a general understanding of what to do to clean their house. But keeping a general clean and preventing viral infection are different levels of clean; many may be unaware that there are different levels of clean. Let's start by discussing those.

1. Cleaning - This is the general removal of dirt, grease, grime, etc. from a surface. Though this can include higher levels simultaneously and is in fact necessary in climbing up the ladder toward the cleanest surfaces, it does not require higher orders of clean to accomplish
2. Disinfection - This is sort of middle ground of the three levels. When you disinfect, you remove most of the pathogens but leaves spores.
3. Sterilization - The term sterilization is intended to be an absolute statement. When you sterilize, you can be reasonably sure you've made a surface cleared of any and all pathogens, spores included.

Given that we're talking about a virus, we really don't need to consider spores. So we really only need to think about disinfectants. But not all disinfectants are created equal. For example, some may be antibacterial but not antiviral. That leads us to ask, what disinfectants should we use? There's a good list on the CDC website talking about which types are effective for what. Generally, typical household bleach and lysol are effective. Simply follow the recommended directions and you should be good to go. For me, I keep a spray bottle of diluted bleach (about 1:25 by volume) for spraying down surfaces and things like toys. For the latter, I give a very thorough rinse to make sure there is minimal residue. Be wary of 'natural' disinfectants like extracts and essential oils. Though there is a bit of evidence that they may be effective for some things, I have not found convincing evidence that they are worth switching from the proven, conventional disinfectants.

Launder items including washable plush toys as appropriate in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.

Most common laundry detergents are (as the name implies) chemical detergents that have a number of properties including disrupting proteins. As many viruses (coronavirus included) consist of genetic info (DNA or RNA) surrounded in a receptor-studded protein envelope, detergents will destabilize the envelope, destroying the virus. If you want an extra little umph, detergents also come in forms that include beach or lysol.

These are the CDC's suggestions for protecting yourself and your children. In addition to this I'd like to add one more: don't rely on cold 'remedies' or 'immune boosters' to keep you safe. The most common one I see is Vitamin C. Though it has been persistently spread since around 1968 (thank you Linus Pauling, there is almost no evidence suggesting Vitamin C will lessen a cold or improve the immune system. Things like homeopathic and naturopathic remedies should also be avoided as they have little to no evidence that they do anything except cost you money. You are much better off trusting FDA-approved symptomatic treatments (if you catch a cold of any form) or, preferably, taking steps to avoid the virus.

The ongoing COVID-19 health crisis definitely requires proper concern. It is not the scariest virus you can encounter (so stop panicking and put the toilet paper down), but it also shouldn't be dismissed like it is a non-issue. Following the guidelines of the CDC and using a little common sense in context for your local area and state should keep you and your family safe. If we work together as a community (get your flu shot, wash your hands, etc.) we can keep this virus from being much worse medically and economically.