Prevention of respiratory tract infections: Situation in 12 private day care centers in the city of Buenos Aires.

INTRODUCTION Day care center attendance is a risk factor for acquiring respiratory tract infections. There are preventive measures which should be applied. OBJECTIVES To describe the availability of adequate supplies or building facilities, staff habits, behaviors and training, and the existence and enforcement of official guidelines or institutional standards regarding the prevention of respiratory tract infections in day care centers for infants in the city of Buenos Aires. METHODS Exploratory and cross sectional study carried out at systematically selected private day care centers for infants. The person responsible of the day care center was interviewed and a 3-hour observation session was held in a room of each of the day care centers. Information was collected on hand washing practices, clearance of nasal secretions, school exclusion guidance, immunization control, breastfeeding promotion and the existence of guidelines, standards and training on the prevention of respiratory tract infections. RESULTS Twelve day care centers were included. Though 8 of the 12 centers had the necessary infrastructure and items, hand washing was uncommon and the technique used was incorrect. Clearance of nasal secretions was not followed by hand washing. At 11 of the 12 day care centers, children's immunization is monitored; at 9 of 12, school exclusion guidelines are not followed; none of the centers have breastfeeding promotion material. In 1 of 12, teachers were trained in the subject the year before and, 1 out of 12 had its own guidelines for infection prevention. CONCLUSION Despite the availability of resources, preventive measures were not regularly and systematically implemented in the day care centers visited.