My father-in-law lives with us and our 3 young children (5, 9, 11). He occasionally poops outside of the toilet and unintentionally contaminate the carpet/floor with his soiled slippers. Does this pose any health risks to my children?
AnotherJoe, I would be VERY concerned with E. coli contamination. According to what I have read, it can happen under certain circumstances and children are susceptible. It can be very dangerous in children and even cause death. Even though, you say the feces gets on carpet seldom, it only takes one incident. I'd explore getting floors that can be disinfected properly AND get Depends for your father. They can be kept on the person with an adult onesie that can be ordered on line. (It snaps in the back and the person is not able to remove the garment. This keeps the Depends in place until you change it.) I'd be careful waiting for him to do better and nothing bad to happen. When toileting becomes an issue, the caretaker has to step in. The person with dementia is not aware of the problem and they aren't going to suddenly see the light and correct it. I'd read about how people with dementia develop incontinence.
My dad just diagnosed with pseudomonas aeruginosa on his ulcerated diabetic foot. Several times while visiting him in assisted-living I noticed his bad bathroom habits. Feces on the bathroom floor and signs where his slippers had walked in it and also of signs of feces in the shower. Wondering if this infection entered his sore ?
My dad just diagnosed with pseudomonas aeruginosa on his ulcerated diabetic foot. Several times while visiting him in assisted-living I noticed his bad bathroom habits. Feces on the bathroom floor and signs where his slippers had walked in it and also signs of feces in the shower. Wondering if this infection entered his sore ?
Thank you all for your support and suggestions. Fortunately this problem isn't very frequent so far, though eventually it will get worse. I will need to do some shopping, and eventually hiring cleaning service.
You have a very big problem on your hands. Human feces is treated as a biohazard. Who supervises your FIL when he uses the bathroom? Does he have his own bathroom?
If you use the same bathroom, that bathroom needs to be sanitized after every accident. Everything that comes in contact with human feces needs to be sanitized. Wear gloves and, in the event of splatter, eye protection when cleaning it up.
Pine oil disinfectant is inexpensive and available at your grocery store. It is effective against Brevibacterium ammoniagenes, the fungi Candida albicans, Enterobacter aerogenes, Escherichia coli, Gram-negative enteric bacteria, household germs, Gram-negative household germs such as those causing salmonellosis, Herpes simplex types 1 and 2, influenza type A, influenza virus type A/Brazil, influenza virus type A2/Japan, intestinal bacteria, Klebsiella pneumoniae, odor-causing bacteria, mold, mildew, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella choleraesuis, Salmonella typhi, Salmonella typhosa, Serratia marcescens, Shigella sonnei, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus faecalis, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Trichophyton mentagrophytes. It will kill the microbes that cause typhoid, most gastroenteritis, rabies, enteric fever, cholera, several forms of meningitis, whooping cough, gonorrhea and several types of dysentery.
It is not effective against spore related illnesses (tetanus, anthrax) or against non-enveloped viruses (poliovirus, rhinovirus, hepatitis B or hepatitis C.)
If you are determined to keep him at home, I would get rid of the carpeting and the slippers. Replace his slippers with non-skid socks, which are washable. Keep all of his laundry separate, soaking it in pine disinfectant before washing it, and dumping the dirty water down the toilet. It is a lot of work on top of all the work you are already doing. So sorry you have to deal with this.
Fecal matter contaminates everything and contains all kinds of bacteria. Add that with kids are walking germ factories, it makes for a bad case of everyone getting really sick. If you are looking to keep him home as long as you can, make sure that he is supervised while using the toilet and maybe invest in Depends.
Thank you for your kind advice. It's been a rough 2 years. I am committed to keeping him with us for as long as we can, but I'm trying to look ahead and think about when will be right time to place him in memory care.
Alzheimer's is such an awful disease. I'd rather euthanize myself if it was me.
Feces endanger everyone, and kids make contact with everything, so you will want to clean up after your FIL constantly. Does he wash his hands? I ask because my FIL lives with us (no children around, thank goodness) and he's a bathroom catastrophe. Pee everywhere, poop all over the place because he can't wipe properly, if he remembers. It's bad. He also doesn't wash his hands. What we do is keep canisters of Clorox wipes all over the house and wipe down every surface he touches. We scrub the bathroom floor after his every visit because it's a mess. We haven't found a solution for the carpets he might be tracking things on. In your FIL's case, as he wears slippers, might you get a few pair of the washable kind and rotate them? Daily? That would cut down on the germs. My thoughts are with you.
It very well could endanger others in the home, especially children that are not washing their hands. E-coli, which is just one of the germs in stool can really make you sick. Lysol spray anything it touches as part of the clean-up process. Hugs to you for taking care of him, especially with 3 children to take carr of, too. Remember to take care of yourself also by taking some breaks from it all. Be sure you have some help that will allow you to do so. Hugs, Sandra
I would be VERY concerned with E. coli contamination. According to what I have read, it can happen under certain circumstances and children are susceptible. It can be very dangerous in children and even cause death. Even though, you say the feces gets on carpet seldom, it only takes one incident. I'd explore getting floors that can be disinfected properly AND get Depends for your father. They can be kept on the person with an adult onesie that can be ordered on line. (It snaps in the back and the person is not able to remove the garment. This keeps the Depends in place until you change it.) I'd be careful waiting for him to do better and nothing bad to happen. When toileting becomes an issue, the caretaker has to step in. The person with dementia is not aware of the problem and they aren't going to suddenly see the light and correct it. I'd read about how people with dementia develop incontinence.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa along with Enterococcus
If you use the same bathroom, that bathroom needs to be sanitized after every accident. Everything that comes in contact with human feces needs to be sanitized. Wear gloves and, in the event of splatter, eye protection when cleaning it up.
Pine oil disinfectant is inexpensive and available at your grocery store. It is effective against Brevibacterium ammoniagenes, the fungi Candida albicans, Enterobacter aerogenes, Escherichia coli, Gram-negative enteric bacteria, household germs, Gram-negative household germs such as those causing salmonellosis, Herpes simplex types 1 and 2, influenza type A, influenza virus type A/Brazil, influenza virus type A2/Japan, intestinal bacteria, Klebsiella pneumoniae, odor-causing bacteria, mold, mildew, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella choleraesuis, Salmonella typhi, Salmonella typhosa, Serratia marcescens, Shigella sonnei, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus faecalis, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Trichophyton mentagrophytes. It will kill the microbes that cause typhoid, most gastroenteritis, rabies, enteric fever, cholera, several forms of meningitis, whooping cough, gonorrhea and several types of dysentery.
It is not effective against spore related illnesses (tetanus, anthrax) or against non-enveloped viruses (poliovirus, rhinovirus, hepatitis B or hepatitis C.)
If you are determined to keep him at home, I would get rid of the carpeting and the slippers. Replace his slippers with non-skid socks, which are washable. Keep all of his laundry separate, soaking it in pine disinfectant before washing it, and dumping the dirty water down the toilet. It is a lot of work on top of all the work you are already doing. So sorry you have to deal with this.
Alzheimer's is such an awful disease. I'd rather euthanize myself if it was me.