Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T15:28:50.515Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Common infections during the first five years of life*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

J. Z. S. Pel
J. Z. S. Pel
Affiliation:
A General Practitioner from Middelburg, Holland
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Of the ordinary infections sustained by children during the first 5 years of life 56% were common colds, 16·5% other infections of the respiratory tract, 16% gastro-intestinal catarrhs, 6% infections of the skin and mucous membranes and 5·5% infectious diseases in a strict sense.

Common colds were most frequent in the second year, namely, an average of 4·3 common colds per child per year. As the child grew older the number of colds decreased. Adults showed an average of two common colds per year.

Of the ‘other infections of the respiratory tract’, 42% were undifferentiated respiratory tract infections, 23% febrile affections without definite localization, 17% otitis, 11% pharyngitis and 7% influenza. The frequency of these ‘other infections of the respiratory tract’ rose from 0·3 in the first to 1·8 in the fifth year of life. After the fifth year the frequency diminished to one infection every 2 years in adults.

The frequency of gastro-intestinal catarrhs in the first year of life, namely, 0·6 per child per year, was doubled in the second year, and then remained constant for a few years. After the fifth year a decrease was observed in this figure too.

Fifty-four per cent of the 116 index children sustained at least one suppurative skin affection during the first 5 years of their lives, 28% had more than one. Most pyodermias occurred in the first few months of life, a second maximum being observed in schoolchildren, 21% of the index children had stomatitis in the first 5 years, 42% conjunctivitis.

By their fifth birthday, 49% of the 116 children had had measles, 46% chicken pox, 26% rubella, 24% exanthema subitum, 17% mumps, 3% whooping cough, while 2 of the 116 children had had scarlatina, 1 child hepatitis, 1 poliomyelitis and 1 bacterial meningitis.

No difference in morbidity was found between boys and girls in respect of respiratory tract infections. The boys had skin infections distinctly more often than the girls, and infections of the mucous membranes and of the gastro-intestinal tract were also slightly more frequent in boys. Apart from infections of the skin and mucous membranes, which were more often observed in mainly bottle-fed children, ordinary infections were equally frequent in this latter category and in children mainly breast-fed.

The index child with older brothers and sisters contracted the ordinary infectious diseases younger than the index child who was the eldest child in the family. On account of the presence of older children in the family, a child was ill not more often, but earlier. The infections of the respiratory tract showed a distinct preference for the winter months, and the frequency of gastrointestinal infections was also slightly higher in that season.

Febrile affections without definite localization, as well as infections of the oral mucosa, occurred especially during the summer months.

Going to the kindergarten did not lead to an increase of the frequency of common colds and gastro-intestinal catarrhs, but the number of infectious diseases in a strict sense became higher. The ‘other infections of the respiratory tract’ became more frequent under the influence of school only in those index children who were the eldest in the family. The index children from families with a low level of hygiene experienced more infections of the skin and mucous membranes than those from families with a high hygienic level.

No difference between these two groups was demonstrable in regard to the other ordinary infections.

There was a parallelism between the frequency of common colds and of gasto-intestinal catarrhs but not with the other minor infections.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Hygiene , Volume 60 , Issue 2 , June 1962 , pp. 163 - 174
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1962

References

REFERENCES

Brimblecombe, F. S. W., Cruickshank, R., Masters, P. L., Reid, D. D. & Stewart, G. T. (1958). Family studies of respiratory infections. Brit. med. J., i, 119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dingle, J. H., Badger, G. F., Feller, A. E., Hodges, R. G., Jordan, W. S. & Rammelkamp, C. H. (1953 a). A study of illness in a group of Cleveland families. I. Plan of study and certain general observations. Amer. J. Hyg. 58, 16.Google Scholar
Dingle, J. H., Badger, G. F., Feller, A. E., Hodges, R. G., Jordan, W. S. & Rammelkamp, C. H. (1953 b). A study of illness in a group of Cleveland families. II. Incidence of the common respiratory diseases. Amer. J. Hyg. 58, 31.Google Scholar
Dingle, J. H., Badger, G. F., Feller, A. E., Hodges, R. G., Jordan, W. S. & Rammelkamp, C. H. (1953 c). A study of illness in a group of Cleveland families. III. Introduction of respiratory infections into families. Amer. J. Hyg. 58, 41.Google Scholar
Douglas, J. W. B. & Blomfield, J. M. (1958). Children under Five. London: George Allen Unwin Ltd.Google Scholar
Dykes, R. M. (1950). Illness in Infancy. Luton: Leagrave Press.Google Scholar
Dykes, R. M., Grundy, F. & Lewis-Faning, E. (1953). Illness during the first five years of life. Brit. J. prev. Med. 7, 31.Google ScholarPubMed
Goodall, J. F. (1954). The winter vomiting disease. A report from general practice. Brit. med. J. i, 197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodges, R. C., Corkle, L. P. M., Badger, G. F., Curtiss, C., Dingle, J. H. & Jordan, W. S. (1956). A study of illness in a group of Cleveland families. XI. The occurrence of gastro-intestinal symptoms. Amer. J. Hyg. 64, 349.Google Scholar
Jacobsen, N. S. (1959). Common colds in Denmark. Danish Med. Bull. 6, 214.Google ScholarPubMed
Levin, B., MacKay, H. M. M., Neill, C. A., Oberholzer, V. G. & Whitehead, T. P. (1959). Weight gains, serum protein levels, and health of breast fed and artificially fed infants. Medical Research Council, Special Reports Series, no. 296.Google ScholarPubMed
Logan, W. P. D. & Cushion, A. A. (1959). Morbidity statistics from general practice. Studies on medical and population subjects, no. 14, Ministry of Health, H.M.S.O.Google Scholar
Loghem, J. J. van (1928). An epidemiological contribution to the knowledge of the respiratory diseases. J. Hyg., Camb., 28, 33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mellander, O., Vahlquist, B. & Melbin, T. (1959). Breast feeding and artificial feeding: a clinical, serological and biochemical study on 402 infants, with a survey of the literature. Acta paediat., Stockh., 48, Supplement 116.Google Scholar
Miller, F. J. W., Court, S. D. M., Walton, W. S. & Knox, E. G. (1960). Growing up in Newcastle upon Tyne. A continuing study of health and illness in young children within their families. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Norval, M. A. & Kennedy, R. L. J. (1949). Illness within the first year of life. J. Paed. 35, 43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pel, J. Z. S. (1960). Thesis, submitted to University of Amsterdam for degree of M.D.Google Scholar
Spence, J., Walton, W. S., Miller, F. J. W. & Court, S. D. M. (1954). A Thousand Families in Newcastle upon Tyne. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Stewart, A. & Westropp, C. (1953). Breast feeding in the Oxford child health survey. Brit. med. J., ii, 305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sydenstricker, E. (1925–1928). Hagerstown morbidity studies. Public Health Reports. 1925: 279; 1926: 2069; 1927: 1565, 1689 and 1939; 1928: 1067, 1124 and 1259.Google Scholar
Volkenburg, V. A. van & Frost, W. H. (1933). Acute minor respiratory diseases prevailing in a group of families residing in Baltimore 1928–1930. Amer. J. Hyg. 42, 122.Google Scholar