Chronic lung disease of prematurity (CLDP)

A new study has revealed that exposure to common viruses in daycare puts children with a chronic lung condition caused by premature birth at risk for serious respiratory infections.

Johns Hopkins Children Center researchers say their findings should prompt pediatricians to monitor their prematurely born patients, regardless of age, for signs of lung disease and to discuss the risks of daycare-acquired infections with the children parents.

These risks, the researchers found, include increased emergency room visits and medication use and more days with breathing problems.

"Daycare can be a breeding ground for viruses and puts these already vulnerable children at risk for prolonged illness and serious complications from infections that are typically mild and short-lived in children with healthy lungs," said lead investigator Sharon McGrath-Morrow, M.D., M.B.A., a lung specialist at Hopkins Children's.

Investigators interviewed the parents of 111 children ages 3 and under with chronic lung disease of prematurity (CLDP) about their child's daycare attendance, infections, symptoms, emergency room visits, hospitalizations and use of medications.

Among the 22 children with CLDP who attended daycare, 37 per cent went to the ER for worsening symptoms since their last day in daycare, compared to 12 per cent of children who did not attend daycare. More than 15 per cent of those who attended daycare were hospitalized for viral illness, compared to 6 percent among those who didn't attend daycare.

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Source: http://www.aboutthehealth.com/2010/10/chronic-lung-disease-of-prematurity.html

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