A prospective study of infectious morbidity and antibiotic consumption among children in different forms of municipal day-care.

During the 9-month period September 1986-May 1987, reasons for absence and antibiotic consumption were investigated among children cared for in day-care center(s) (DCC) and Swedish town. family day-care (FDC) within a limited geographical area of a medium-sized Swedish town. All 352 children in 11 DCC in this area and 199 children in FDC were included in this prospective study, which intended to elucidate the infectious morbidity. The investigation period comprised 55,760 and 26,019 expected days' attendance for the DCC and FDC children, respectively. A higher absence attributable to infection was evident at all ages in DCC children than in those in FDC. This difference tended to diminish with age. No difference in antibiotic consumption was evident between the 2 categories, and the diagnostic pattern was almost identical. In the DCC, overall absence figures, and absence due to infection, were considerably lower than in earlier comparable studies. Appreciable differences in absence due to infection and antibiotic consumption were also found between different "departments" in the DCC; both low and high-absence groups could be identified. There was an indication of differences between the groups both socially and in the environment at the DCC.