Infection control in child daycare centers: logistics, knowledge, and practices of caregivers

Abstract

Background Children attending daycare centers (DCCs) are at high risk of contracting infectious diseases due to several factors including lack of knowledge among the caregivers about infection prevention and control practices. The objectives were to describe the DCC features, infrastructure, and infection control logistics, to assess knowledge of DCC caregivers regarding infectious diseases, and to assess their infection control practices. Methods Using a cross-sectional design, 402 caregivers working in 59 DCCs in three districts in Alexandria, Egypt were included. Data were collected using a data collection sheet about the DCC features, a structured interviewing questionnaire to collect data on caregivers’ personal characteristics, knowledge about infectious diseases, and the best infection control practices and an observational infection control practices checklist. Multiple analysis of variance was used to test the difference in two or more vectors of means (mean knowledge scores about infectious diseases and about infection control). Post hoc test using Tukey Honest Significant Difference was used to determine which groups in the sample differ. Regression analysis models were used to identify factors affecting knowledge score of caregivers, and to estimate the magnitude of the association between different variables and the level of practice of caregivers (poor/fair and good). Results Satisfactory features of the DCCs included the aeration, level of cleanliness, and availability of hand washing facilities, while the availability of gloves and aprons, alcohol-based products, and medical examination rooms were not satisfactory. Only 2.5% of caregivers had a good level of knowledge. Level of education was the only factor statistically associated with the level of knowledge. About 31% and 17% had poor and good practice score percent, respectively. District and daily working hours were the only variables statistically associated with the level of practice. Conclusion The level of knowledge and practice of caregivers was below optimum.

Alarming Levels of Multidrug Resistance in Aerobic Gram-Negative Bacilli Isolated from the Nasopharynx of Healthy Under-Five Children in Accra, Ghana

“…It may also help in setting up prospective follow-up studies to determine the factors associated with progression from carriage to infection. Lastly, the high levels of GNB carriage and MDR call for improved infection prevention and control in day-care centres to prevent any further transmission [ 26 ].…”

Disease prevention: childcare practices of caregivers in day-cares/pre-schools in Ibadan, Nigeria

“…[18][19][20] The structural variables define resources that enable delivery of care and teacher/caregiverchild interactions. 22 They can be more easily controlled, and they are organized into four sub-domains: health and safety, grouping of children, caregivers and infrastructure. 18 This study did not include the infrastructure sub-domain however draws attention to a broader range of the routine disease prevention childcare practices of caregivers in the day-cares or preschools surveyed.…”

“…Similar observations of suboptimal childcare practice scores have been observed with other studies in different settings. 21,22…”

“…Caregivers' hand hygiene moments after helping children with toileting and after defecation was reported by >80% of the respondents in this study compared with 10%-50% found in older studies conducted in both household and school settings. 21,22,29 Despite, the high reporting rate of hand hygiene by day-cares/pre-schools caregivers, the aggregate childcare disease prevention practice score was sub-optimal. So was the weighting on the role of hand hygiene in the overall childcare disease prevention practice score index.…”

Availability of Infection Prevention Measures and Occurrence of Infections in Childcare Centres in Sagamu Local Government Area, Ogun State, Nigeria

“…The reasons for the latter risk include overcrowding and a low carer-children ratio. [4] Added to this is children's increased susceptibility due to environmental influences and low immune status.…”