Day-Care Centers Carry a Risk, Doctors Say

How healthy is day-care? “I tell the parents in my practice that if they take their children to day-care centers, they are going to see me more often,” said Dr. Helen Lederer, an Encino pediatrician.

“Children who are exposed to other children are going to have an increased risk of infection, including more upper respiratory infections, gastrointestinal disturbances, and ear infections. Yet the majority of the infections that a kid will get from day-care are minor and not serious,” Lederer said.

Some day-care centers, such as the Woodland Village School in Agoura Hills, isolate children who become ill during the day and send them home, but centers vary in how closely they screen children for illness and how quickly they will call parents to take their children home.

“Families have complained that we’re being tough on them when we send the children home right away but we feel it’s necessary,” said Debby Berthiaume, school director. Smaller centers or private homes may not have the room or the staff to enforce strict rules about children’s health. Lederer suggests that parents check with their day-care homes or centers to learn how illness is handled.

She also suggests that parents check with their pediatricians about the hemophilus influenza vaccine that helps prevent pneumonia, meningitis and ear infections. Most cases of these diseases occur in children under 2, and the vaccine is recommended for children 18 months and older. sentence still unclear; could reach writer tuesday night.

Dr. Laurene Mascola, a medical epidemiologist with the acute communicable disease division of the Los Angeles County Health Department, said that one Los Angeles County study revealed that the giardia parasite, a protozoan that causes intestinal infection, diarrhea and gas, has been found in San Fernando Valley day-care settings. The risk of such infections is increased in homes and centers where there are children who are still wearing diapers. The risk of contacting or transferring the disease to other children is reduced by thorough hand-washing.

“Are children in day-care centers at increased risk for colds?” asked Mascola. “Yes. Are they at risk for death-defying illness? No.”