Physiologist warns of hidden dangers of game rooms for children

Children’s game rooms can often become hotbeds of infection due to the high concentration of kids, close contact, and frequent lack of hygiene. In a conversation with ‘Lenta.ru’, Associate Professor of the Department of Fundamental Medical Disciplines at the State University of Education, physiologist Tatyana Krymtseva, mentioned this. According to the physician, the main danger of game rooms is the high concentration of children in a confined space. They constantly interact by breathing on each other, hugging, playing together in the same playhouse or on the same slide, touching the same toys, handrails, soft modules. Therefore, it is particularly easy to catch diseases transmitted by droplets in the air and through contact at game rooms, she added. ‘After visiting game rooms, respiratory infections and flu are especially common: one sneezing child can ‘share’ the virus with the whole group in a matter of minutes. Also, diseases like chickenpox, measles, rubella can be spread if an infected child without symptoms was present in the room, as the virus can linger in the air and on surfaces. Gastrointestinal infections such as rotavirus, norovirus, enterovirus are prevalent as well and can be contracted through unwashed hands,’ warned Krymtseva.