IONS FREE NURSERY/INFANT SCHOOL GROUP OF

"SNOTTY-NOSED KIDS"

An ionised atmosphere for children during winter can help keep them clear of the lingering after-effects of colds and chest infections. This has been the experience of Mrs Pat McDonald, mother of four and teacher at a nursery/infant school group near Turnbridge Wells, Kent.

Mrs McDonald has experience of ionisers both at the school and at her home. She has used them for the past two winters. She says: "The ioniser in the schoolroom has really kept the children clear of the usual, expected infections during the past winters. In a small group of children such as ours, we expect colds to do the rounds during the winter. But since we got the ioniser, the absences during winter have dropped noticeably.

In fact, it looks as if infections, if they occur to any extent, happen during the holidays, or right at the beginning of term. Attendance figures are excellent mid-term, which certainly wasn't the case before we had the machine."

CURSE OF CHILDHOOD

"If you talk to any group of mums in the suburbs", she continued, "the chances are they'll complain about the 'awful winter catarrh' which just won't go away. The children pick up the infections in the park, or at school and they linger for weeks - and seem to lead into the next cold. In fact, you could say that 'snotty-nosed youngsters' were part of our way of life : the curse of childhood winters in this country."

"But quite frankly, we haven't seen one child like that since we've used the ioniser. Runny noses are a thing of the past. When the children get sick they seem to throw it off much faster, and be free of both the lingering green catarrh and coughs that won't clear up."

LUCKY BABY

Pat McDonald reports the same results form the ioniser she uses at home. "We don't have the lengthy, snuffly period after colds and coughs", she says. "For instance, my ten month old baby caught a chest infection three weeks ago. Hardly surprising. The whole family had it. But we can't afford an ioniser in every room, so for the moment we keep it in the baby's room, because he is the most important."

"Well... he caught the infection from us. But while we went about with really nasty coughs for a fortnight, his cleared up completely in five days. And even while he was infected, he coughed only during the day, and slept through the nights."

HOUSEHOLD DUST

A year-round hazard for Pat McDonald herself is household dust. She is allergic to dust, and gets bad hay-fever attacks. "I can't do much about it" she grinned. "The work must get done."

"For some reason, I usually get an attack about two days after I've been in contact with a load of dust. Often it builds up because I haven't had time to stop and use the ioniser. So when it gets too bad, I simply stop and go into the room with the ioniser, and sit by it for about fifteen minutes."

"I can feel the difference within minutes : there's a definite sensation of 'easing up' in my nostrils."

"If I've let the attack build up too far, then that short session won't take the hay-fever away completely, though it certainly relieves it temporarily. But attacks can sometimes go on for two or three days if I'm not careful, and make me absolutely miserable. When they get as bad as that, I clear them up completely by sleeping close to the ioniser through the whole night. By the next day I am quite free of hay-fever."