Journal article
The Effects of Hygiene Standards Pre- and Post- COVID-19 Shutdown on Fever and Diarrhea Incidence in a Daycare
Ohio journal of public health, Vol.7(2), pp.1-6
09/05/2025
DOI: 10.18061/ojph.6414
Abstract
Background: One of the most broadly available forms of child care in the United States is a childcare program (CCP). Because of the nature of CCPs, children and their caregivers interact closely within confined spaces, creating op-portunities for infectious agent transmission. We hypothesized that a reduction in the room’s population density due to requirements related to the COVID-19 outbreak would lead to a reduction in incidence of disease symptom presentation. Methods: For this observational study, data were collected beginning in January 2018 and lasting until May 2021 from a university-run CCP. Searches of email communications between caregivers and parents were conducted to look for disease exposure notices and phrases related to enteric illness. Zero-inflated Poisson models were used to look for significant influences affecting incidence rates. Results: Our modeling found limited evidence for seasonality in fever and diarrhea incidence rates. However, there was significant evidence that an increase in attendance was associated with a decrease in fever and an increase in diarrhea incidence. The data also indicated lower fever incidence before the COVID-19 shutdown with an increase in fever incidence as time after shutdown increased. Conclusion: This study shows evidence of a relationship between rising attendance and increasing transmission events and begins to quantify the impact of CCPs on disease transmission in infants.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The Effects of Hygiene Standards Pre- and Post- COVID-19 Shutdown on Fever and Diarrhea Incidence in a Daycare
- Creators
- Jeremiah L. Cox - The Ohio State UniversityMatthew C. Salerno - The Ohio State UniversityJenessa A. Winston - The Ohio State UniversityKelly K. Baker - University at Buffalo, State University of New YorkJiyoung Lee - The Ohio State UniversityRebecca B. Garabed - The Ohio State University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Ohio journal of public health, Vol.7(2), pp.1-6
- DOI
- 10.18061/ojph.6414
- ISSN
- 2578-6180
- eISSN
- 2578-6180
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 09/05/2025
- Academic Unit
- Occupational and Environmental Health; Epidemiology
- Record Identifier
- 9984962647002771
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