INFECTIOUS-DISEASES AND DAY-CARE-CENTER ENVIRONMENT

During the period from September 1986 to May 1987 all 25 day-care centre departments in the residential district of Teleborg in Vaxjo were studied to discover the frequency of absence due to infection. Mean absence/department was 6.6% (SD 2.2), with a range from 3.9% to 10.2%. During the period from September 1989 to May 1990 a follow-up study used the same methods to investigate 7 departments, which in the first study had shown the highest and lowest rates of absence due to infection. In addition, the carbon dioxide content in indoor air was measured in all departments in the district. The new measurements showed that the average absence due to infection in the 7 departments had fallen from 7.5% (SD 2.9) to 5.6% (SD 1.4). It was not possible to reproduce the division seen in the first study into departments with high and low absence rates. The variations in infectious morbidity observed could not be explained by differences between the departments as regards physical environment or working routines. By contrast, a considerable difference as regards carbon dioxide content in indoor air was seen between the 3 departments housed in converted dwellings and the 4 departments in purpose-built day-care centres; the mean values were 822 ppm and 458 ppm, respectively (Mann-Whitney U-test; p = 0.028).