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[Nursery-acquired diseases and quality of the atmosphere ]
Insights
Nursery air quality significantly impacts child health. Poor thermohygrometric conditions and atmospheric contamination in nurseries led to longer child absences due to illness.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health
- Pediatric Epidemiology
- Microbiology
Background:
- Nursery-acquired infections pose a significant burden on child health and attendance.
- Understanding the relationship between atmospheric conditions and disease incidence in childcare settings is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare diseases and atmospheric properties in Parisian nurseries.
- To assess the impact of environmental factors on nursery-acquired illnesses and child absences.
Main Methods:
- A comparative study was conducted in 4 Paris nurseries from September 1976 to June 1977.
- Diseases were categorized, and atmospheric physicochemical and bacteriological properties were analyzed.
- Child illness was quantified by average days of non-attendance.
Main Results:
- Respiratory tract infections were the most common (80%), with no significant difference between nurseries or age groups.
- Children under 2 years were twice as likely to be ill compared to older children (p < 0.001).
- Nurseries with suboptimal thermohygrometric comfort (temperature 19-22°C, 40-60% RH) showed significantly longer average absences (12.6-18.5 days) compared to those with adequate comfort (6.0 days).
Conclusions:
- Nursery environmental conditions, particularly thermohygrometric comfort and air quality, significantly influence the duration of child illness-related absences.
- Maintaining optimal environmental conditions in nurseries is essential for reducing disease transmission and improving child attendance.
- Atmospheric contamination and pathogen prevalence are linked to increased illness duration in childcare settings.
Abstract:
A comparative study of the diseases and the physicochemical and bacteriological properties of the atmosphere was performed in 4 nurseries in Paris between September 1976 and June 1977. The importance of nursery-acquired diseases was estimated in each child from the average of the days of non attendance because of illness. They were classified in 3 groups: upper and lower respiratory tract, gastro-intestinal, infection-eruption whose respective rates (80%, 10% and 10%) are not significantly different either from one nursery to another or with age. The children under 2 years of age are ill twice more frequently than the older ones (p less than 0.001). The duration of the absences for illness differs from one nursery to another (p less than 0.001). In the 2 nurseries where the thermohygrometric comfort is satisfying in 30% or more controls (temperature between 19 and 22 degrees C with hygrometry between 40 and 60% of relative humidity), the average of non attendance for ill;ness is 6.0 days; in the 2 nurseries where the comfort is satisfying in 20% of the cases or less, this average becomes 12.6 days in dry and globally contaminated atmosphere and 18.5 days in super-heated atmosphere where pathogen staphylococci predominate.