Most parents will consider sending their children to daycare or childcare centres at some point. Some of us do it because we don’t have anyone to care for the kids while we go to work. Some of us do it so the kids can start socialising at a young age.
Whatever the reason is, most parents tend to have a pretty strict vetting system when it comes to choosing their childcare centre. It isn’t enough to just choose which childcare centre is the closest in proximity to home – we also consider things like the syllabus used, the number of children to teachers, the overall environment of the centre and more.
But one of the most important factors should be the childcare’s cleanliness and hygiene. And if all else fails, their standard operating procedure should a disease outbreak happen at the centre.
There are many common illnesses for children that can be contracted at the childcare centre.
Here are the top 3 common illnesses for children that they can catch at their childcare centre:
1. Hand, foot and mouth disease
Hand, foot and mouth disease, often known by its abbreviation HFMD, is a mild but contagious viral infection common in young children. It is characterized by sores in the mouth and a rash on the hands and feet.
This is one of the most common illnesses for children at childcare centres because if one child gets it, it is possible that it can easily be spread to other kids at the childcare centre. It can spread when poor hand washing after a diaper change or contact with saliva allows the virus to be passed from one child to another1.
Unfortunately, HFMD is NOT preventable as there is no vaccine for it yet2.
2. Conjunctivitis
Also known as pink eye, conjunctivitis is an eye infection causing the whites of the eyes to appear red. It is commonly caused by a bacterial or viral infection, an allergic reaction, or — in babies — a blocked tear duct3.
It won’t affect your child’s vision, but it is a highly contagious infection and also incredibly uncomfortable because the child would feel the irritation or itchiness in their eyes.
The virus spread through hand-eye contact. So if a child were to touch their eyes and then touch another child or a toy that another child touches, they can also contract the virus.
Though good hygiene can help to prevent it from spreading, there is not much parents can do to prevent their kids from contracting the virus itself4.
3. Chickenpox
Though many parents think that it’s a rite of passage for their kids to contract chickenpox from daycare or from friends, we’re here to tell you right off the bat that it is not. In fact, this disease is completely avoidable!
Chickenpox, as we commonly call it, is an infection caused by the varicella-zoster virus. A child can start showing symptoms anywhere from 1-3 weeks after catching the virus and what it usually does is cause an itchy rash outbreak on the whole body and the blisters will be filled with fluid5.
Other symptoms of chickenpox6 include:
- Fever or a general feeling of unwell or lethargy about five days before the rash.
- Rash which usually starts on the chest and back, and spreads to the face, scalp, arms and legs.
- After which, the rashes turn into the blisters that burst, dry up and become crusty
- New spots will continue to pop up for about five days and take about two weeks to go away.
These are the common symptoms that occur when children get chickenpox7. However, in more severe cases, having chickenpox could also lead to:
- Bacterial skin infections
- Bloodstream infection
- Pneumonia
- Inflammation or swelling of the brain (encephalitis, cerebellar ataxia).
In the most extreme cases, chickenpox can even lead to death due to such complications8.
Chickenpox is highly contagious to children or adults who haven’t had it before nor been vaccinated. But the good news is that once you get it, you generally have lifelong immunity to the disease!
Something to take note of, however, is that the virus remains inactive in nerve tissue and may reactivate later in life and cause shingles9.
That is why it is so important for parents to save themselves the hassle of putting their child through such a painful illness by giving their kids the chickenpox vaccine.
Chickenpox vaccines can be given to children as soon as they turn 1. Though it is not in the National Immunisation Programme (administered by government hospitals and clinics), it is possible to get the chickenpox vaccine from a private doctor from only RM50.
Though the cost may seem pricey to some parents, parents must remember that the cost of treatment if a child contracts chickenpox could go well into the thousands if complications arise. Not to mention, we cannot put a value on our child’s health and well-being.
Chickenpox can leave ugly scars on a child’s body that could last for life10. The cost of scar treatment will also go well into the thousands.
So don’t put your child through all of that unnecessary discomfort or risk! You can vaccinate your child at private clinics or hospitals. Check out the full list here.
Also a bonus point for parents!
The BEST thing about this now is that these recommended vaccines fall under the Malaysian tax relief. As announced by the Malaysian government in 2020, in a report by Bernama, the RM1,000 tax relief for vaccinations include the varicella (chickenpox) vaccine as well as a list of other vaccinations11.
MY-VVX-00059 Jul/2021
References
1 Hand, foot, and mouth disease. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. www.cdc.gov/hand-foot-mouth/about/index.html. Accessed 10 June, 2021.
2 Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease. (HFMD): Symptoms, Treatment and Prevention. (n.d.). www.nationwidechildrens.org/conditions/hand-foot-mouth disease#:~:text=a%20few%20days-,Prevention,be%20a%20problem%20to%20others.
3 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019, January 4). Signs and Symptoms of Pink Eye (Conjunctivitis). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. www.cdc.gov/conjunctivitis/about/symptoms.html.
4 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019, January 4). Preventing Pink Eye (Conjunctivitis). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. www.cdc.gov/conjunctivitis/about/prevention.html.
5 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019, August 7). Chickenpox Vaccination: What Everyone Should Know. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/varicella/public/index.html.
6 NHS. (2020, November 27). Chickenpox. NHS Choices. www.nhs.uk/conditions/chickenpox/.
7 NHS. (2020, November 27). Chickenpox. NHS Choices. www.nhs.uk/conditions/chickenpox/.
8 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, April 28). Chickenpox (Varicella) Complications. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. www.cdc.gov/chickenpox/about/complications.html#:~:text=Chickenpox%20can%20also%20cause%20death,disease%20from%20their%20unvaccinated%20children.
9 Chickenpox. Johns Hopkins Medicine. (n.d.). www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/chickenpox.
10 Chickenpox. Chickenpox – Better Health Channel. (n.d.). www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/chickenpox.
11 Bernama. (2020, December 16). Parliament: Tax exemptions for COVID-19 treatment, vaccine – MoF. BERNAMA. www.bernama.com/en/general/news_covid-19.php?id=1912872.