PLACING CHILDREN in shopping trolleys with raw meat and poultry products could pose a risk to their health, parents have been warned.
The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) issued the warning in a new report which shows between 20 and 40 cases of salmonellosis are identified in Irish infants each year.
Salmonellosis is an infection caused by salmonella bacteria. In children less than one year old it can be a serious disease and may require hospitalisation, the HPSC said. To minimise the risk of infection in infants, it is important to bear in mind that placing children in shopping trolleys with raw meat, even if it double-bagged, is not safe, it said.
It also advised that reptiles, snakes or amphibians are not suitable pets for children under the age of five years, as children can pick up the infection from them, as well as from farm animals.
Furthermore, it said parents and other adults must wash their hands thoroughly after touching food and before lifting an infant. “This is a common way in which infection is transmitted,” it said.
Breastfeeding protects infants against this type of infection, it said.
While overall rates of salmonella infection in the State are falling each year, rates of infection among infants have remained relatively constant.