Day care in relation to respiratory‐tract and gastrointestinal infections in a German birth cohort study

Abstract

Children attending day care centres were at an increased risk of respiratory and gastrointestinal infections within the first years of life. However, around school age these differences disappeared or even partly reversed.

First-year Daycare and Incidence of Acute Gastroenteritis

“…Previous studies demonstrated an increased risk of infections in the first year of life when attending large daycare centers compared with smaller daycare centers. 8,26 Finally, in this study, the percentage of families with a high SES in the study population were overrepresented compared with the district population average and the children of these families are more likely to attend daycare. 27 Indeed, the percentage of high SES families in the daycare group is higher in the study population compared with the Dutch average (80% versus 60%, respectively).…”

“…4 Daycare attendance during preschool age is associated with an increased incidence of several infections, including AGE. [5][6][7][8][9][10] Consequently, increased rates of primary care consultation, hospitalization, and medication prescription have been reported for infants attending daycare compared with those cared for at home. 3,5,9,[11][12][13][14] Although it is known that early daycare attendance is associated with an increased incidence and economic burden of AGE, it has also been suggested that early daycare may offer relative protection from AGE when children enter primary school.…”

“…3,5,9,[11][12][13][14] Although it is known that early daycare attendance is associated with an increased incidence and economic burden of AGE, it has also been suggested that early daycare may offer relative protection from AGE when children enter primary school. 8,15,16 The duration and magnitude of such opposite effects of early daycare exposure, however, remain unclear, and consequently the cumulative impact of daycare attendance on AGE disease burden during childhood also remains unclear.…”

“…Côté et al 15 did not find a difference in cumulative parentreported AGE incidence in the first 8 years of life between children attending daycare before ages 2.5 years and those not attending daycare. Zutavern et al 8 found an increased risk, based on parental questionnaires, of several infections, including AGE, in the first years of life for children who entered daycare before 2 years of age, and observed that this risk disappeared or even reversed from the age of 4 years on. In our study, AGE occurrence was determined based on GP records, reflecting disease episodes that were sufficiently severe to seek health care.…”

Surveillance to estimate the burden of rotavirus gastroenteritis in children aged less than 3 years attending day care centers in Paris, France

“…Compared with children cared for at home, DCC attendees are known to be at increased risk of diarrheal diseases, especially RVGE. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] The availability of safe and effective vaccines against RV offers the potential to reduce the burden of RVGE.…”