Kids in Daycare Get More Colds

Daycare is notorious as an opportunity for young children to share germs, so it is not surprising that a Canadian study found that toddlers in daycare had 60 percent more respiratory and ear infections than youngsters cared for at home. But there is a silver lining to this cloud of germs: children who had experienced daycare had 43 percent fewer ear infections and 21 percent fewer colds than other kids once they were in elementary school. The researchers suggest that children suffer approximately the same number of infections overall, but that the timing differs depending on when they start interacting with lots of other kids. It even seems possible that early infections help build up a child’s immunity.
[Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, online 12/6/10]