Originally Posted by
oliver2002
Hmm... I grew up in an Indian village in 1980-87 with a pack of dogs to play with and a pond to swim in. Later during University in Bombay (1994-99) I had malaria thrice and thyphoid once, the latter probably originating from the office building 'canteen'. I think that is sufficient exposure to pathogens. The bloody dagis virus still gets me everytime I get in multiday contact with my nieces.
Just goes to show that not everyone's constitution and prior pathogen exposure and results from the same is the same.
I guess one solution for you may be to try to minimize time with the nieces, but I'm not sure their cousins, their mom or the airlines will like that solution.
I have not yet gotten any kind of stomach-upsetting virus in the Nordic areas, and that's despite a substantial level of exposure to people in contact with daycares in the region. I do hear from some people that they think daycare teachers should have more fully-paid sick time off from work than the rest of the working population, and I'll take that as a sign that the hygiene hypothesis and its adult variant only goes so far in working.