14 DAY TRIAL // Children suffering from a chronic lung condition caused by premature birth, and exposed to common viruses in daycare, have a risk of developing serious respiratory infections, says a new study from Johns Hopkins Children's Center.
Researchers gathered data from the parents of 111 children under the age of 3, with chronic lung disease of prematurity – CLDP, about their child's daycare attendance, symptoms, infections, visits to the ER, hospitalizations and medication use.
The results showed that children with CLDP attending daycare – 22 out of 111, had almost four times more risks of getting to the ER with severe respiratory symptoms, than those who were not in daycare.
They were also twice as likely to be needing corticosteroids as well as antibiotics, and in general, three times more likely to experience breathing problems at least once a week.
37% of the 22 children with CLDP – attending daycare, went to the emergency room for aggravating symptoms since their last day in daycare, unlike only 12% of kids not attending daycare.
Also, over 22% of daycare-attending kids were hospitalized for viral disease, unlike only 6% of the others, and 39% needed corticosteroids, 50% needed antibiotics, unlike 19% and 26% for those who were not in daycare.
Researchers also found serious respiratory episodes and symptoms in the week before visiting the doctor, in kids in daycare.
Most serious complications caused by all these infections, can bring kids to the hospital and demand a long treatment, so the scientists advise pediatricians to warn parents about these risks.
“Daycare can be a breeding ground for viruses and puts these already vulnerable children at risk for prolonged illness and serious complications from infections that are typically mild and short-lived in children with healthy lungs,” said lead investigator Sharon McGrath-Morrow, MD, M.B.A., and lung specialist at Hopkins Children's.
She added that “repeated infections in children with lung disease of prematurity can also put them on a fast track to lifelong respiratory problems and chronic lung damage, so prevention in early life is crucial.”
The researchers' advice to parents of CLDP suffering children is not to send their child to daycare before the age of two, if possible, as most risks occur during this time.
CLDP gets better wit age in most children, but a quarter keep having these problems even when they become adults.
Chronic lung disease of prematurity develops in about 25% of babies born at or before 26 weeks of pregnancy, but even those born as late as 32 weeks can develop the condition, according to the researchers.
They add that prematurely born babies should be continuously monitored by pediatricians, regardless of age, for any signs of lung disease.
Doctors also should talk to the kids' parents about the risks of daycare-acquired infections, like frequent ER visits, more days with breathing problems and medication use.
The study was published in the October issue of Pediatrics.