Handicraft class

Question

Dear team,

my son would like to take a handicraft class (manual/creative work) as a compulsory optional subject in school. I worry about problems with the clay (and also with the clay cutter in the craft room) as well as with glue, varnishes, and dust. He has repeatedly been battling pseudomonas, aspergillus, Burkholderia cepacia and inquillinus!

Many thanks for your swift answer.

Answer

Dear questioner,

many thanks for your question. I am not entirely sure whether your son has already been infected with pseudomonas and particularly with Burkholderia and inquillinus, or whether you are worried that he will acquire them. If, after all, he has already been infected with Burkholderia and inquillinus, it would be really interesting to know why that is so and where to look for the source of the infection. Particularly Burkholderia is usually a human-to-human transmission, even though it is an “environmental” germ, of course.

It is hard to say in how far working with clay will constitute a risk for infection with other, additional germs. However, particularly atypical mycobacteria certainly do occur in standing water, and a “contamination” of the water used during class would be possible. Nevertheless I think it is important not to deny your son his wish of taking the crafts class due to a risk that can ultimately not be clarified completely. One option I would definitely consider feasible would be to work with a mask, given that the risk of transmission can be minimized to a passable minimum this way.

Kind regards

Dr.med. Markus Hofer
Adult CF clinic
Zurich University Hospital

23.06.2010