It is common knowledge that daycare centers and playgroups are breeding grounds for viruses. Is one child snot bubble free, the other starts coughing or sniffling. Research confirms that young children regularly infest their parents with cold viruses. In fact, it also appears that PMers are regularly ill during the first two years of their career, says youth doctor Caroline Schouten of the GGDHM in Leiden to the AD.
We start with good news: there were fewer cold and flu complaints in 2021 compared to the last measurement in 2018, according to figures from Statistics Netherlands. There was a decrease in almost all age groups. Unfortunately, this does not appear to be the case for young children: in babies and toddlers up to 4 years of age and in parents of children up to 12 years of age, these complaints were equally common in both years. Colds and flu were most common in children up to the age of 4 in 2021: 66 percent of them suffered from such complaints during the previous two months, according to their parent or caregiver.
Young children infect parents
In 2021, 49 percent of parents with children under the age of 4 reported having had a cold, strep throat, flu or sinus infection in the past two months. This was about the same in 2018. Parents with children between 4 and 12 years old living at home also often had flu and cold complaints (38 percent), also about as often as three years earlier. Among parents with children aged 12 to 18 and children aged 18 or older, and among those without children living at home, these complaints were less common than in 2018.
Mutations make parents and pm’ers sick again
A young baby who goes to daycare comes into contact with hundreds of new viruses. “You as a parent may have had that once, but viruses adapt and make you ill again in adulthood,” youth physician Caroline Schouten of the GGDHM in Leiden told the AD. Think of: hand, foot or mouth disease, norovirus, colds, RS virus, water warts and common warts, chickenpox, sinus infections, pink eye (conjunctivitis) and worms.
Schouten: ‘Research shows that supervisors of daycare centers are also continuously ill during the first two years. The vertical groups in day care centers also help with spreading: a toddler rubs his snot on a baby’s playpen, and another virus has spread.’
More attention to ventilation
The good news: due to the arrival of corona, more attention is being paid to ventilation in childcare. There is now better ventilation at the locations and more attention is being paid to sneezing into the elbow, keeping distance and hand hygiene. ‘That will pay off,’ says Schouten.
Sources: National Education Guide, AD, CBS