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.
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.
ReplyDelete