A survey of youth between the ages of 8 and 18 who were asked a variety of questions to test their knowledge of bacteria, viruses and prevention options came up with some interesting results:
A little under two in 10 youth say it is extremely or very likely that they or their friends could catch HIV/AIDS, bird flu, or Hepatitis C in their lifetime.
However, tweens were more likely than teens to report that it was extremely or very likely that they or their friends could catch a cold in the next year — 80 percent vs. 73 percent.
To protect themselves from a virus most youth thought washing hands would be effective, but six in 10 say that antibiotics offer protection against catching a virus.
This is part of our job as parents to know the differences ourselves and teach this to our kids. Don’t overlook this information, it is important to their health and wellbeing!
antibiotics, Awareness, bacteria, Education, Infection Prevention, virus .gif)
3 responses so far ↓
Jim Smith // Jul 25, 2006 at 8:25 am
Hi Christina I couldn’t help myself after reading your article and thought of giving a comment about appetite and to share it with other readers. An antibiotic is a medical drug that slows and kills the growth of bacteria. Antibiotics are solitary set of antimicrobials, a bigger group which includes anti-fungal, anti viral and anti-parasitic drugs. Antibiotics are relatively harmless to the host, and therefore can be used to treat infections.
mrsa virus // Feb 8, 2008 at 3:15 pm
I agree that children safety is one of the top things that should be dealt with, I seem to love each one of your comments, keep up the brilliant work.
Nerissa // Mar 15, 2008 at 9:13 am
Although it is agreed that Antibiotics are a subset of antimicrobials. Very few know the difference, and assume it antibiotics can be used to treat any infection. It is noteworthy to say antibiotics will not cure a viral infection and are meant only for bacterial ones. Thus, when repeatedly used inappropriately, will not be effective at all since the bacteria they are actually meant for become immune to them. The actual threat lies when simply bacteria cause fatal diseases and you no longer have a cure.
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