“Going to school and childcare exposes a child to large numbers of other children, which in turn, increases the likelihood of exposure to germs,” said Dr Ng Chung Wai, Senior Consultant at SingHealth Polyclinics – Outram Polyclinic, a member of the SingHealth group.

Common infections that afflict children include the common cold as well as hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), sinusitis, infectious diarrhoea, chickenpox and influenza. While the common cold tends to be mild, influenza can lead to severe complications such as pneumonia, encephalitis (brain infection), myocarditis (heart muscle infection) and even death.

How Parents Can Help

Parents play an important role in reducing the risk of infections.

“Having your child stay home when he or she is unwell will reduce the chance of spreading germs to other children. This means that working parents would need to make alternative arrangements like having a grandparent or child-sitter look after the child. For older children, they can be taught good habits such as hand washing, and cough etiquette (e.g. coughing or sneezing into a tissue),” Dr Ng said.

But it is not always easy for working parents to make last-minute alternative arrangements. Thankfully, hygiene standards in centres are good. Temperatures are checked twice a day and children with fever are turned away.

Role of Childhood Vaccinations

Another thing that parents can do to boost their child’s immunity is to ensure that he or she gets all the recommended vaccinations. “Childhood vaccines not only ensure that children develop antibodies which protect them against these infections, but also reduce the likelihood of the infections occurring in the population, further reducing the possibility of a child catching the infection from another child. This is what we call ʻherd immunity’," said Dr Ng.

Does making a child’s environment really clean make the child less or more susceptible to germs? Read on for the answer to this and other frequently asked questions about child immunity.  

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