Cooties

Yep, you read that right! The Meredith household has been struck by cooties. And not this kind:

We wish. You didn't think cooties were real did you? Yeah, neither did Wikipedia:

Cooties is a non-scientific term in North American English used by children for an imaginary "disease" carried by the female gender said to infect through contact. The term may have originated with references to lice, fleas and other pests. A child is said to "catch" cooties through any form of bodily contact, proximity, or touching of an "infected" person. The phrase is used by children aged 5-10.

First of all, why girls? I'm quite sure guys carry most of the cooties - I never ran from girls worried I would catch their cooties. Second of all, Cooties are most definitely not imaginary (proof to follow) and I am a scientist, using the word "cooties," which makes them quite scientific.

When I was growing up, riding that little Merry-go-Round outside of Kmart (which is the ONLY place I've ever seen them) was strictly forbidden by my Mother, unless I was wearing long pants - I know, weird, because I wasn't wearing gloves.



Anyway! She did this so that I wouldn't catch cooties (is that how one catches them? through naked legs?). I'm starting to see that my Mom may have had a point.

Last weekend we visited Barnes and Noble. We even posted a photo of Kate playing with what I believe to be the source of our Cooties - a Thomas the train engine and cars. Like clock-work (3 days later) she came down with one nasty fever and rash that made us miss Thanksgiving with the family. I am a microbiologist, so I diagnosed her with some "virus" and two days later she was fever-free and playing like a mad woman. Enter exhibit A:

Blisters on her feet (and hands and mouth).


This, my non-scientific friends, is known as Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. Please do not be confused. She didn't catch this from a cow in England - that would be Foot and Mouth Disease. No, I don't know why. Probably some totally non-creative person had to name them. This disease is caused by, you guessed it, Cooties! Its highly contagious, easily spread from kid to kid (on toys too). It is actually caused by a variety of viruses that belong to a group called enteroviruses. Usually its a coxsackievirus (isn't that a fun one to say!?), but sometimes can be an echovirus. Did I say highly contagious? Yup!

Today Don called me at work and said he was definitely feeling sick. He had a sore throat and a blister in the back of his mouth. Uh Oh. Now he has a fever of 102.8 and is very miserable on the couch. Its actually really cool for me to see a disease that I have only read about until now - but NOT cool for the sick members of my family. Don't worry, these viruses are pretty benign and run their course quickly. The disease in adults is supposed to be milder... at least we hope so.

Kate has recovered nicely. The blisters on her hands are looking better, and the ones on her feet have not prevented her from walking up a storm. In fact, here she is playing fun games with a pyrex dish. I didn't know that peek-a-boo could be just as interesting behind a see through dish, but she was giggling up a storm.



So, will I be next?? I've certainly been exposed multiple times, but lets hope NOT!