Any time you have a large group of kids, you have germs. Even at the cleanest childcare centers, children inevitably rub drippy noses, cough, sneeze, and put toys in their mouths, picking up and transferring any number of common “daycare diseases”. But there is plenty you can do to help your kids and staff stay healthy.
The number of children who attend preschool is increasing every year; and the size of care groups continues to grow. Preschools and childcare settings are large workplaces. In Sweden, more than 500,000 children are registered for preschool. About 100,000 people work directly with preschool children and that number doesn’t even include other employees (supervisors, kitchen, and cleaning staff).
You don’t have to be a mathematician to realize that this population can be a significant source of infection. To limit the spread of disease within the preschool itself, as well as among the families and friends of children and staff, adequate routines must be implemented and followed.
Dr. Charles P Gerba, Professor at the Colleges of Public Health and Agriculture, University of Arizona, summarizes challenges for daycare in his TEDTalks presentation “Hygiene in the 21st Century”. Watch presentation
During 2019, in Sweden, 876,900 persons spent 6,694,133 days caring for their sick children. (Source: Swedish Social Insurance Agency) Consider the impact on society, not to mention the burden on the children’s families.
PILLOWS AND BLANKETS
After a single week of use, the amount of bacteria on pillows, pillowcases, blankets, and sheets is more than 17 thousand times greater than on a toilet seat.
TOYS
If they’re not regularly cleaned and disinfected, shared toys can speed the spread of germs throughout the daycare environment, making children sick.
TABLES
Desks and tables get dirty quickly, and should be cleaned thoroughly every day.
WATER BOTTLES
Water must always be readily available to children, but many kids are too young to understand that they shouldn’t put anyone else’s water bottle in their mouth.
DOORKNOBS
To prevent spreading germs from surface to person after touching a doorknob, teach your children to sanitize their hands and not to touch their faces.
PENCIL SHARPENERS
Pencil sharpeners are surprisingly germy. Many people use them without a second thought, unaware that many pathogens can survive on surfaces for up to 70 hours.
Bacteria and viruses, especially respiratory viruses, are omnipresent in the daycare environment. Toys are particularly contaminated.
To reduce the risk of disease in preschool settings, every facility should meet certain criteria that promote good hygiene. Keep in mind that even surfaces that look clean may, in fact, harbor myriad viruses and bacteria. Because standard cleaning methods are often not enough to remove all the germs, regular sanitizing and disinfecting should be an essential part of every childcare center’s routine.
Ultraviolet light has a long history of use as a disinfectant. The question, however, is how best to harness its power to fight the spread of viruses and protect the health of both children and adults in childcare centers and preschools.
At LightLab, we have spent several years working with UV solutions to improve hygiene, and we can help you to create a safe, clean, and happy childcare environment.
Here are a few ideas about how PureFize broadband UV technology can be used to reduce germicidal spread in daycare settings.
