Effect of nursery on asthma and acute upper respiratory infection in healthy preschool children

AIM: The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of admission to nursery on the incidence of acute upper respiratory infection (AURI) in healthy preschool children, analyse the aetiology of AURI, and provide reference for its clinical diagnosis and treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Pharyngeal swab samples were dynamically collected from 119 healthy preschool children who were first time admitted to a local public nursery for multiple etiological detection to explore the time of the first occurrence of AURI after admission to the nursery and the causes of infection. The effect of nursery on pathogen colonization in the pharynx in preschool children was also analysed. RESULTS: A total of 91 children developed AURI in the nursery. There was a significant difference between genders (χ(2) = 4.078, p = 0.043). The common pathogens of AURI showed a concentrated distribution. The proportions of bacterial, mycoplasma, and viral infections were 51.65%, 15.38%, and 12.09%, respectively, of which the proportions of mixed infection of two bacteria and mixed infection of bacteria and non-bacteria were 5.50% and 5.50%, respectively. A total of 28 children did not develop AURI in the nursery. There was no significant difference in the number of pathogens in the pharynx between the results before and after admission to the nursery (t = 0.700, p = 0.488). CONCLUSIONS: Collective living in the nursery causes a concentrated incidence of AURI in preschool children and has no effect on pathogen colonization in the pharynx in uninfected children. Bacteria are the main pathogen of AURI. The health education of children in nurseries needs to be strengthened to avoid the cross-infection in the population.