I can’t wait to take Arlo to an aquarium - I wish we had one close to us cause I just know he will love looking at the fish! ☺️ And there’s no stopping us doing that in the safety of an aquarium but we won’t be getting fish of our own any time soon! 🐠
Fish tanks are bad for a ton of reasons. Multiple species of bacteria, including PsA, are found in fish tanks and from the fish themselves and the aquarium plants that might be in the tank. There is apparently a case report of an 11-month old infant with CF who isolated PsA and Aeromonas spp. repeatedly until the four fish tanks were removed from the home. (Four seemed like a lot of fish tanks to have in your house but I guess we’ll never know quite why there were that many?!?)
Most fish tanks also include some kind of oxygen pump that produces bubbles and aerosolisation of water, and if the tank contains tropical fish they will be kept in warm water that is the ideal temperature for PsA.
Guidelines in the UK are to avoid fishtanks altogether although it seems that in the US they recommend wearing gloves for the cleaning and general maintenance of tanks.
Side note on squirting bath toys: these toys in the photo are actually squirting bath toys but you’ll notice that Arlo only ever plays with them in our living room without any water involved! I haven’t dedicated a ‘CF parent’ guidance post to these toys because I think it applies to all parents to proceed with caution here. In one of my parenting books (before we knew Arlo has CF) I had already been warned to be very cautious about bacteria that can collect in squirting bath toys. There was a case in the UK where a little boy's eye got infected from a bath toy and he nearly lost his eye and ended up with ongoing issues with his vision. So this is one where all parents should proceed with caution and CF parents should avoid altogether! “Squirting bath toys” are bath toys that have a valve on the base (e.g. plastic ducks) or that can squirt out water. The problem arises if the water sits inside the toy for a long time, as they cannot be fully emptied and dried. There is evidence of a multidrug-resistant PsA being found in these types of toys.
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