Monday, September 14, 2009
Parasitoid
So I just had an interesting and lively conversation about parasitoids. I got home cracked open my laptop and did some google searches. Turns out, yep they're still nasty. The botfly is a ridiculously gross one. You can Youtube a video of these friends pulling a few larvae from a guy's back. Soooo gross. This made me question how I've been so nonchalant I've been about my kid playing in the dirt with bugs and crap. Well I found this and this. Both essentially say what I had been holding to: kids who eat dirt have stronger immune systems. So I guess as long and I keep a vigil on bug bites and "rashes" for larvae then it is okay to pay in the dirt.
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Good. I'm glad you caught that cautionary bit about the consequences of our cultural obsession with super sanitation. Clean hands are one thing; a sterile environment is something else. Just like minds and bodies, our immune system needs exercise (and exposure to the new) to function as it should.
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