Day care centers rarely give paracetamol to a sick child. While both child and parents benefit from this, general practitioner Bernard Leenstra states in NRC this first week of 2023.
A sick child belongs at home: that is paramount, agrees this GP. But he also states that paracetamol can be a panacea for some of the children who get sick, get a fever and/or have pain: If parents are already planning to give paracetamol anyway, there is only an advantage if the child receives it earlier, for example at the day care centre. It accelerates the chance of the positive effects of paracetamol: less pain, feeling less sick and being able to eat or drink better.
Danger
Leenstra finds it unclear why nurseries are so careful about providing paracetamol. Some daycare centers say that the GGD does not allow it, he says in his opinion piece. But according to the GP, most nurseries indicate that they consider giving paracetamol dangerous. For example, paracetamol would provoke a febrile convulsion, increase the risk of infection for others or conceal the fact that a child is seriously ill.
Infection risk
The GP haggles over these arguments in NRC: serious illness cannot be concealed with paracetamol, he believes, and there would hardly be any question of an increased risk of infection: children are already contagious before they show symptoms of illness. According to the GP, there is also no evidence for a connection between paracetamol use and febrile convulsions.
Both the GGD and the RIVM are not against the provision of paracetamol by daycare staff, says the GP. But remarkably enough, inquiries at various day care centers reveal that they often do not offer paracetamol, precisely according to the guidelines of the same GGD.