Dr. Gordon M. Dickinson, M.D.

I would agree, I would be worried especially for your mother. It is not possible to socially distance in a house unless it is a huge mansion. I have cancelled my own family's get together in July because it would focus on my mother who is in her upper 80s.

Yes, toddlers can be infected. They do not seem to experience much illness when they do. Presumably they can transmit to parents and brothers and sisters...and grandparents. Young children are not mindful of personal hygiene or social distancing, so that is a bit of a problem of keeping them safe.
There is a rare condition that can complicate the infection but that is very rare.
we are still learning about how maintain day care centers and students in elementary school so watch the announcements from your public health department and the CDC.
Keep safe!

Am unaware of any such testing.

I know of no specific studies of this, but extrapolating from what we know of SARS-Co2 it is unlikely to persist for long, regardless of how the bodies are buried.

G dickinson

It is rarely a serious illness in children. Apparently, it rarely is followed by Kawasaki’s disease. So, not totally to be ignored. Just know that Kawasaki’s disease is rare.

G. Dickinson

If you are infected with covid-19, do not go until fully recovered. If you are not infected but were exposed, do not go until 14 days after your exposure. If no infection or exposure, then wash hands before going and or use alcohol rub before entering, keep your social distancing from them in the house and wear your surgical mask - no need for them to wear theirs, assuming they have been isolated. Obviously, it may be difficult to socially distance, but do the best you can and watch the news as guidelines may change or may be more specific in the future.

G. Dickinson

Yes, but severe illness is unusual and complications are infrequent.

In my opinion, no, if you use personal protective garb.

Interesting, difficult question. If she acquires covid-19 infection, she might have a severe illness that could have a fatal outcome.
On the other hand the facility where she works may have stringent requirements for accepting patients - strict screening about potential exposure or symptoms, a two step covid-19 pcr testing requiring that both are negative, and then personal protective equipment to protect not just the patients but also the operative team.
Or not....
So some risk and I would want to know the details of screening the patients, and the protective equipment that she will have. and training for putting the protective garb on and off.

all of us over the age 50 will face a difficult time because the tailing off of the epidemic is going to be messy indeed. until there is a protective vaccine we will need to be very careful. I am an older physician and will only resume face to face patient care in a week or two after more than a month of being quarantined at home (for my safety) by my younger colleagues. My wife also works in a hospital although not with direct contact and she started working three weeks ago.
And it is possible that working in a hospital may be safer than any interactions outside the hospital. Younger loved ones - children, grandchildren, friends, - all represent a danger as all of them face less of a serious illness than do we elders, and they may be a source at a time they are not ill at all.

as you can see, I have babbled on a bit because I do not have a good answer for you. Whether she wants to work or not, your wife should ask very carefully whether her facility will accept patients with covid-19 and if not, how will they screen to prove the patients do not.
I wish you safety...and luck.

Good question.
Many bacterial infections are cleared by our own immune defenses, but do not. For example bacterial meningitis progresses to death or terrible disability without antibiotics, and heart infections are not cleared. Some, for example, pimples and soft tissue infections such as boils will resolve when they drain without antibiotics. Ear infections may clear without treatment, but the may cause various complications such as hearing loss. And the pain may linger. Antibiotics help speed along the clearing of infections and prevent complications.

G. Dickinson

I do not think so.

There is some risk one cannot predict. It will not be 100%, but it will not zero either. Too many factors to give you for your personal risk.

G. Dickinson

Fortunately, the COVID-19, the new Coronavirus, is not so severe for children nor even for adults your age. It's more severe for older folks, and I think the older, the worse it may be. But a serious problem for all of us.

G. Dickinson

It is my opinion that you should delay this trip until the epidemic has passed - or we have a way to protect the uninfected.

G. Dickinson

The risk for salmonella is mainly related to your environment and food and water supply. Risk for salmonella is uncommon in the USA today.

G. Dickinson

Yes many pathogens can cross the placenta and infect the fetus.

Through droplets and the air that a person with influenza produces by coughing, sneezing and rarely by contaminated hands.

G dickinson

Epidemiology is a broad field and individuals can focus on many things - from health issues such as cigarettes and lung cancer (epidemiologists showed us that cigarettes are a cause of lung cancer) to how HIV is transmitted (in the beginning some people thought that it could not be spread to women but epidemiologist showed that it can), to how to use vaccines, how many infectious diseases are spread.

Take Rocky Mtn Spotted fever. When this first emerged in the Bitteroot Valley in western Montana, many people thought this often fatal disease came from drinking water from melting mountain snow. But epidemiology work showed that it came from ticks, and that the ticks spread through Mt Goats, a favorite host for the ticks.

We need good epidemiologists, so if you are interested, go for it. It will be helpful if have mathematics skills, and also persistence as solving epidemiology problems can be very difficult to solve. But lots of fun, too.

G Dickinson

Yes, this is a priority issue for doctors and scientists with an interest in the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases.
There are efforts to limit the unnecessary use of antibiotics - it is felt that many antibiotics used are unnecessary, and that often treatment can be limited in duration. Antibiotics used in animal food for enhanced meat production is also a concern and there are efforts to limit the use of antibiotics for this purpose.
There is ongoing research into new antibiotics
There is ongoing research into vaccines that might be used
There is interest and research into the use of phages (basically viruses that attack bacteria)
There is interest in the development of monoclonal antibodies vs certain pathogens.

So you can help too. Keep up to date on the news. Vaccinate against vaccine preventable diseases. If your doctor recommends an antibiotic, ask her/him why, which one and for how long. And if you have a viral infection, you do not need an antibiotic.

Influenza occurs every year, and there may be many cases - an epidemic, so yes, it causes epidemic. Roughly every ten years there are worldwide epidemics - pandemics. Because influenza is preventable, everyone should get the vaccine.

G. Dickinson