A new school term could see a spike in illnesses despite it being summer. Photo: Halfpoint.
Young children starting daycare or preschool for the first time could be in for a long run of illnesses even throughout summer, with the group environment and developing immune systems making them particularly susceptible to viruses and bugs.
Parents of children who attend childcare centres are no strangers to messages warning them of illness, whether it be the flu, gastro or hand, foot and mouth disease, with cases often quickly spreading between the young attendees and their families.
“Kids are very interactive: they’re handing things and toys to each other, they’re touching each other, and that provides a lot of opportunity for viruses and bugs to not only be picked up from surfaces, which is quite normal, but also from each other,” Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District public health director Curtis Gregory said
The close-knit environment can be the first time children are exposed to many of these viruses, with their bodies not yet equipped to fight them off.
“They’ve got a developing immune system and they can be what we call naive to some exposures, so for example, if a kid has never been exposed to whooping cough before, their immune system has never had to cope with it before so the first exposure sort of prompts the immune system to start recognising that particular virus or bacteria and start building up that immunity, and that’s a progressive process,” Mr Gregory said.
“Things like vaccines, which are available for certain conditions, really help because they provide that immediate boost and that immediate recognition. It’s the best protection that can be offered.”
While illnesses seem to spread more rapidly in winter, with more people staying indoors and closer together and less air flow in spaces, summer brings its own challenges, particularly as school resumes, with kids suddenly back in classrooms or in assemblies with large groups.
“We do see it coming back with new terms,” Mr Gregory said.
”There will be a little bit of a bump in things like whooping cough and gastro around schoolkids and also early childcare centres because often older kids that are going to school will have younger siblings and when they go back into the household it will spread and the cycle for these illnesses just keeps going.”
There is no one-size-fits-all mould for how quickly a child develops immunity, leaving parents frustrated at the cycle of sickness and these constant bugs becoming a normal part of life for months and even years.
But it does eventually improve.
“Kids that go to playgroups, go to childcare, go to early learning, anything like that where they’re mixing a lot with others, you see when those kids then go on to kindergarten, there’s always a bit of a difference,” Mr Gregory said.
“Kids that have had a lot more exposures have a lot more protection once they get into the next stage of school.”
For now, keeping your child as healthy as possible with proper rest, vitamins from fruit and vegetables, and hydration is important for giving them the best chance at fighting illness, with hygiene and cleaning key for reducing the spread.
“We know that toddlers and young kids are not great at hand hygiene and it’s a developing skill for them, so it’s just the reminders before they eat to wash their hands,” Mr Gregory said.
“You can’t just follow your kid around wiping all the surfaces afterwards because it’s a never-ending task, so it’s really about focusing where there’s going to be an activity, so after they use the bathroom or after they’ve had a bath, or before you’re going to prepare meals, make sure they’re the key points that you’re looking at.
“Even if you’re just getting something like cereal or fruit for them, just that heightened awareness to make sure you’re reducing any kind of risk there is.”
And while these illnesses may be the norm, it doesn’t mean they aren’t serious.
“For parents with young kids, the symptoms can deteriorate quite quickly, so just be aware of that,” Mr Gregory said.
“You can’t be too cautious. Don’t feel like you’re being a helicopter parent by looking at their symptoms, and if they’re getting worse, taking them in to see the doctor or calling the doctor to see if they have some advice.
“There’s also HealthDirect on 1800 022 222 that’s a hotline that’s available 24/7 and they have nurses that are available that can talk to parents or carers and let them know what might be the risks and what they should look out for.”
