I'm afraid I have some rather sober information for you.
I have had a conversation with a colleague at St Mungo's who shared that their teams in the camps have determined that the most likely means of transmission for this disease is via flea bites. Apparently there is quite an appalling rodent population in the camps, and all indicators have pointed towards a rat-flea-human-flea- model for the spread of this contagion.
Have you suffered any bites? I hope not. Certainly, you were there a short enough time that it is reasonable to hope that neither you nor Arthur has been infected. Yet.
Melania, however, cannot be assumed to have been so lucky, and if she is indeed carrying the disease, she could become a source for infection for all of you. For that reason, I think you will need to continue in quarantine for some time. How long is, unfortunately, not easy to specify. Some infectious diseases have incubation periods as long as three weeks between exposure and the onset of noticeable symptoms. However, in infants that period is shorter as their systems have less ability to resist disease. I am assuming that Melania must be at least a week old (counting from the day Minerva alerted us, and she might have been born before that--do you know for certain?). We can, therefore, deduct some of her age from our calculations.
I believe, therefore, that you would be safe if you were to keep the child quarantined for ten days. (You've done one already!)
At that point, if there is any hint of illness, we will extend the period and watch you both very carefully. Do remember that communicable illnesses become infectious days, even a week, before their symptoms manifest; that's how they defeat our efforts to control them. And remember, too, that even if the usual means of transmission is rats and their fleas as St Mungo's believes, you might become infected in the course of caring for an infant, whose bodily fluids are often difficult to manage with complete safety. If we have any reason to suspect Melania's health, we will need to keep you quarantined for the maximum period in order to be safe.
I wish I had better news for you, Frank, but I know that you share my concern for safety there at the Sanctuary.
Frank, Alice.
I have had a conversation with a colleague at St Mungo's who shared that their teams in the camps have determined that the most likely means of transmission for this disease is via flea bites. Apparently there is quite an appalling rodent population in the camps, and all indicators have pointed towards a rat-flea-human-flea- model for the spread of this contagion.
Have you suffered any bites? I hope not. Certainly, you were there a short enough time that it is reasonable to hope that neither you nor Arthur has been infected. Yet.
Melania, however, cannot be assumed to have been so lucky, and if she is indeed carrying the disease, she could become a source for infection for all of you. For that reason, I think you will need to continue in quarantine for some time. How long is, unfortunately, not easy to specify. Some infectious diseases have incubation periods as long as three weeks between exposure and the onset of noticeable symptoms. However, in infants that period is shorter as their systems have less ability to resist disease. I am assuming that Melania must be at least a week old (counting from the day Minerva alerted us, and she might have been born before that--do you know for certain?). We can, therefore, deduct some of her age from our calculations.
I believe, therefore, that you would be safe if you were to keep the child quarantined for ten days. (You've done one already!)
At that point, if there is any hint of illness, we will extend the period and watch you both very carefully. Do remember that communicable illnesses become infectious days, even a week, before their symptoms manifest; that's how they defeat our efforts to control them. And remember, too, that even if the usual means of transmission is rats and their fleas as St Mungo's believes, you might become infected in the course of caring for an infant, whose bodily fluids are often difficult to manage with complete safety. If we have any reason to suspect Melania's health, we will need to keep you quarantined for the maximum period in order to be safe.
I wish I had better news for you, Frank, but I know that you share my concern for safety there at the Sanctuary.