Stuffed animals are a comfort item that can provide emotional support and comfort to children and some adults. The stress of everyday life during COVID-19 can be daunting and affect children, as well as adults.
For many families in the country teddys (peluches in Spanish) are infallible in children’s rooms and many adults. However, can these beloved infect you with the coronavirus? It is a big question.
“If a person infected with the coronavirus sneezes or coughs directly onto stuffed animals in my home, chances are yes, but otherwise there is no scientific evidence that stuffed animals connect to the coronavirus.
“Of course, what peluches can do is trigger other diseases that could make the child or adult sick, lower their defenses and be more prone to viral diseases,” explains the expert in pediatric infectious medicine, Dr. María Luis Ávila Aguero, who is also head of the Infectology Service at the National Children’s Hospital and former Minister of Health (2006 – 2011).
Dr. Ávila recommends that during these times of coronavirus what we should do is keep those stuffed animals that we love so well groomed and avoid being touched by outsiders.
It must be remembered very well in these days of the pandemic that the stuffed animals are real banks of dust and mites, they are places that love bacteria in the air because that is how it stays in our homes.
“Children, especially younger ones, usually suck on them and if there are bacteria in the stuffed toy they get into the child’s body and make them sick,” the good doctor warns. “They can trigger allergies, asthma and skin irritations. We talk about diseases that have a lot to do with the respiratory system, which we must be very careful these days”.
The doctor recommends washing them constantly, although they are no longer so fluffy.
The main thing is that your children do not sleep with stuffed animals in bed, nor should adults because it is a fact that many adults cannot sleep without stuffed animals in their beds.
