An article regarding bacteria founf in childrens’ ball pits.
Something I never though of and I expect a great many other people did not either.
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What scaremongering.
The natural world children/adults are exposed to everyday had billions and billions of pathogens. This is why we have an immune system to provide some protection from day to day cobtact with such bugs.
I would be very surprised if the family home, in the garden/soil, air we breathe, schools, on public transport, shopping centres, etc etc would be cleaner than a ball pit. These other areas would have significantly more germs and pathogens and be a higher risk to children’s health…
If one takes such articles seriously, then one should live in a sterile bubble as that is the only way to remove all risks to an acceptable level
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Most of us accept our very young crawling on the floor with their hands. The same floor, often carpet we also walk across with our shoes or bare feet. Toddlers play on the same floor. Everything goes in the mouth at some stage of play.
It is an interesting comparison to make when considering a ball pit?
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I agree - articles like this seem like natural selection in action. Sadly, in a sense, modern medicine fights natural selection 
… not just the very young either !!! OK, I’ll leave that right there …
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Perhaps a tad more serious now with the coronavirus pandemic.
I find the reaction to ball pits very surprising and possibly concerning. Allowing children to play outside and be in contact with pets, soils or plants will pose them significantly greater thread than virus or bacteria potentially on a ball in a ball pit. I wonder if outdoor playing or banning pets will be the next step to ‘protect’ children from unacceptable risks.
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It left me wondering. On reading, it’s only about measures in the ACT. Banning kids from playing in ball pits when the big kids get to spray with little discipline in the big play pen down the road is certainly a double standard.
For clarity is this factual? It seems counter intuitive when in general the spread of viruses and diseases tend to peak in winter, especially in colder climates. This has often been repeated for Covid, that the risk of outbreaks increases with the onset of winter, because people spend more time indoors. Mask wearing has often been required in indoor environments but not required on open air environments with or without social distancing. At times out door dining and picnics were permitted while indoor dining was restricted or not permitted.
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Yes it is. It is worth reading texts and papers on pathogenic microbiology and the environment. A ball pit is the least of one’s worries and this is possibly an action by government to be seen to be doing something.
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Is the outcome of what you have read that the increased risk of Covid in winter is not related to increased indoor activity? I took the indoor closure related to the comparative risk of transmitting Covid. IE transmission in a closed indoor activity vs an open outdoor environment.
All the measures advised to date for Covid are based on open air outdoor is a lower level of risk than indoor. Packed to capacity sports stadiums and concerts excepted.
Politely, the circumstances or comparisons based on other pathogens would seem irrelevant to a decision for Covid, which is both airborne and surface persistent.
That’s my 20c. I’ve no more change for the meter.
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Well, be better keep close all schools, child care centres, kindergartens etc. The risks associated with these institutions is equal to or greater than a indoor activity centre or ball pit.
The original Daily Mail article was about poorly cleaned pit balls spreading disease through contact. For Covid, the risks of contact based infection is very low (if not close to nil) and transmission has been from close contact with a Covid infected person. There appears to be inconsistencies in relation to risks from ball pots/activity centres and other potentially higher risk children activities.
This may turn out to be media sensationalism…
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00251-4
And there appears to mounting evidence that surface based transmission was overhyped in the early stages of the pandemic. This has been very relevant within our own business and we have been trying to keep abreast of latest research so it can guide our own Covid Safety Plan control measures. If the risks are real, many businesses would close to ensure their customers/consumers risks are minimised.
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Or they could invest in regular cleaning to an acceptable Covid plan, balls included.
In response to the most recent discussion concerning the ACT being singled out for retaining a health requirement to keep indoor children’s play facilities (ball pits) closed for the time being. Isn’t it up to the operators in the ACT to make their case to the ACT Government? It’s unlikely our less informed opinions will make any difference.
