Reducing the infection risk in day care. Helsinki 2005. 48pp. (Handbooks of the Ministry of Social- Affairs and Health, ISSN 1236-116X; 2005:28.) ISBN 952-00-1902-2 (print), ISBN 952-00-1903-0 (PDF)

The main purpose of day care is to promote the balanced development of children and to support families in their upbringing task. Day care should provide children a favourable growing environment. However, there is evidence that children attending daycare fall ill twice more often than children that are nursed at home. This applies especially to children under 3 years of age.

It is important to reduce the infection risk in day care. In Finland, different kinds of short-term infectious diseases are the most common diseases in children. Upper respiratory infections (such as the flu) are the most common and in approximately every other case, they are the cause of non-attendance in day care centres. With some children, upper respiratory infections result in middle ear infection. Also diarrhoea quite often causes illness and non-attendance. Diarrhoea is the cause in every fifth absence due to illness.

If small children are often ill, it may have also other significant indirect outcomes: profuse use of antibiotics can, for example, lead to antibiotic resistance. If the number of infections, middle ear infections in particular, in children can be reduced, the use of antibiotics will also decrease significantly. This in turn reduces the generation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

The purpose of this handbook is to assist the day care personnel in day care centres and in private day care. It includes basic information on causes and transmission of diseases as well as on infectious diseases in children in day care. The focus of the handbook is on guidelines for practical measures in day care that according to various studies have been successful in reducing diseases in children.

Key words: children, day care, day care centres, health promotion, infectious diseases, private day care