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Friday, 22 April 2005 12:43 | BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk
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Attending day care centres in the first months of life can reduce a child’s risk of developing leukaemia, a report has found.
It is believed that exposure to common infections in the first year of life reduces the susceptibility to the illness.
Scientists from the Leukaemia Research Fund interviewed the parents of 9445 children between the ages of 2 and 14 about day care and social activity in the first year of life.
3140 of the children had cancer of which 1286 had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) – cancer of the blood cells - and 6305 were cancer free.
Results showed that increased social activity outside the family corresponded to a reduced risk of ALL, with the greatest reduction seen in children who attended a nursery or playgroup in the first three months of life.
“Our results provide further support that social activity with other infants and children during the first few months of life protects against subsequent risk of ALL,” said the reports authors.
“We conclude that some degree of early exposure to infection seems to be important for child health.”
The notion that early exposure to common infections can boost a child’s immunity is years old but this is the first study to closely examine the link.
The study is to be published in the British Medical Journal.
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