4 month old with salmonella?

Question

my daughter was diagnosed with salmonella last friday at the ER. Since then she has been to her pediatrician twice for shot of antibiotics and they gave her an oral antibiotic as well. We called her daycare yesterday and informed them and she hasn't been to daycare since she was dx. This morning DHEC called our house and asked my husband several questions about our jobs, our food preparation techniques, etc. My husband told them they are more than welcome to come to our home and inspect it (We are clean FREAKS). I am scared to death though...are they going to come take my child? We have no idea where she caught it and the only thing that has changed in her environment in the last week was she started daycare on the 15th. Someone please tell me they are not going to take my child?

Answer 1

Woah! No, honey they can't take your child. When there is a case of salmonella they need to ask questions to see if it is a mass outbreak - you know like it is happening at the local diner or something. They CANNOT take your baby away for this - even if it did happen at your house (say you made an omelet and then didn't wash your hands well enough after) because accidents happen and secondly they can't prove it happened there anyway. This must have been very scary for you - a seriously sick baby and then people calling about it! Don't worry mama it is OK!

Edit: The most common transmission of salmonella in the home is from the toilet. Make sure you put the lid down when you flush as the poopy particles can fly up to 6 feet and land on your toothbrush.

Answer 2

They may take swabs of your counters, sinks, common areas, etc. It's highly unlikely that they would have reason to take your baby. If she started daycare recently, I'd be more than willing to bet that's where she got it. Nobody is as careful with your child as you are and nobody cares how unsanitary they are with someone else's child. It can be spread from person to person quite easily in fact. It's transmitted through the fecal-oral route, so all they need to do is change a diaper and not wash their hands well enough, then feed your daughter or stick their fingers in her mouth. In Utah, where I live, I was only told that my daughter couldn't come to school while she had an active case of diarrhea. She and I both carried the bacteria and were thus capable of spreading it, for a year. Legally the health dept has to be notified when someone has it and then they get investigated. Daycares are often left out because a lot of people are so concerned that they'll have no place to put their kid and have to miss work, that they don't tell the health dept about their kid's daycare and that's one way to spread it. Of course, food contamination is still possible, but there again, you don't really know how food is being handled anywhere if you don't see it yourself. My daughter and I got salmonella from our local duck feeding park. I'd let the health department know that your daughter's daycare is a possibility. It's worth it to stop this potentially fatal disease from spreading.

Answer 3

No, they won't take your baby for that.  They MAY keep a record on you to make sure you aren't... you know... making her sick or something.  But that would be it.

They have to investigate though.  If she got it from daycare, then the other babies are at risk.  If she got it from juice, there could be hundreds of kids at risk (though at 4 months I doubt she was getting juice...)  If she got it from a jar of babyfood or something, then more kids at risk.  If she got it from the water in your area... and more babies are showing up sick... and they're trying to isolate the area affected... get the picture?  

If they can isolate that she got it from a source that other babies weren't exposed to (say, going to the grocery store and you touched a package of meat then touched her pacifier without thinking about it, or wiped your shirt against the meat counter when bending to pick something up and wiped her mouth off later...)  then it means less babies getting sick.  

That's all it is.  They have to make sure it's not a source a bunch of babies are exposed to.

Edit.  Yup, you have reason to freak out a bit.  I would be.  It's scary to have a little one that sick!  And someone taking mine away was a nightmare from before she was even born, so yeah.

Answer 4

Calm down, it's ok..they are not going to take your baby, they just have to investigate where it came from..they can't have it spreading if it did come from daycare, which it prob did!  

Answer 5

im guessing she got it from daycare. and stop freaking out, they arent going to take your child

Answer 6

No, they won't take your daughter away. When my daughter was 2 months old, and had been having bloody stools since she was 2 weeks old, her doctor tested her for both salmonella AND E-coli. The doctor said that while it's not common, it certainly happens sometimes. So, your baby is not the first infant to get salmonella.

Also, when my child was 11 months old, she called 911. Don't ask me how she did it, because I have no idea...LOL. They ended up sending a some cops to the house, where they had to check it out, to make sure I wasn't being held hostage or something. My kid had squash smeared all over her face, the house was a mess, and I was wearing ratty clothes and no bra...I just knew CPS was going to show up at my door. But, they didn't...and in the back of my head, I knew they wouldn't. I was just freaking out.

So, they won't take your daughter for getting sick. Especially since she most likely got it from Daycare.

Answer 7

Since she just started daycare not too long ago, I would be assuming she got it from there. Most cases of any infection, virus, etc... start after a child starts school or in your case daycare. I hope they are going to check out the daycare facility as well as your home.

Freaking out is normal, you cant help but think those kinds of things, but I dont think they will take away your baby. They just want to find the source so they can keep it contained and under control. Its for every ones safety. I hope your baby gets better soon. God Bless<3

Answer 8

i don't think they would take your child...they just want to know how she got it..she could of gotten it from daycare?? some children are more acceptable to certain things then others....

good luck

Answer 9

It's okay! I had e Coli when I was pregnant (who knows how that happened) and the doctor recently found some e Coli in my daughter's urine. It isn't something that we've done poorly as parents. Children are so susceptible to germs. They are constantly being poked, prodded, kissed, and touched by people, even strangers! There is nothing that you could have done to prevent this. Let the people come to your home and inspect it- imagine the satisfaction you'll feel when they realize how squeaky clean your house is! Plus, you'll feel even better knowing for sure that there was nothing you could have done. Good luck!