Dear all:
I must admit like all human beings to having areas of deep inconsistency.  In developing areas of the world I never ate fresh vegetables.  That's right -- I did NOT eat salads. The only vegetables I ate were cooked and the only fruits I ate were peeled. Unless I used the iodine tablets to wash the greens myself.  As a result, I never had a case of giardiasis.  When I was in Peru, I was mocked for my unwillingness to eat salads until both my colleagues had repeat bouts of giardiasis.  Malaria was so severe in the area where I was in Peace Corps and the Peace Corps docs were so insistent that chloroquine resistent malaria didn't exist, that I and all the other volunteers routinely self-medicated because we truly believed we would die.  One volunteer had to be medically evacuated out with a very serious case of malaria and anemia.  So, when I had a tropical mystery disease many years later and the French doctor wanted to pump me full of quinine and the American Peace Corps doctor was horrified, I went for that quinine IV like a junkie.  Apart from my deep phobia of malaria, however, I hardly ever use drugs and really hate anesthesia.  

Similarly my view on gloves.  My husband was recently hospitalized due to a dog bite.  A dog randomly bit him on the street.  I MADE him wash it out immediately and thoroughly. Nevertheless, he developed an infection so serious that he had to be hospitalized for 2-3 days.  Again, deep irrational phobias set it.  I had to restrain myself from wiping down every surfaced with chlorine I was so afraid that he would get some antibiotic resistant germ in addition to whatever nasty germs had invaded the bite from the dog.  If I were working in a hospital, I would probably wash my hands every two seconds and wear gloves.

In the home setting I only wear finger cots if I am assessing a baby's suck.  I find I can do a lot of observation and mothers can usually describe how the baby is feeding, so I don't always do a suck assessment.  Otherwise I never wear gloves.  Like many others in private practice it feels like it would send the wrong message to the mother about breastfeeding.  

In my home environment I am not paranoid about germs on my fresh vegetables or lettuce.  I figure a few additional bacteria will help my gut.  I realize this is very inconsistent with my fears when I am outside my home environment!!

Best regards, 
Susan Burger

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