Start of nursery school in December?

Question

Hello,

Our daughter will be 3 years old in December and we also have a place at nursery school for her starting in the middle of December. Now we are worrying a bit if it is a good idea to send her to nursery school just in the high season of infections or if we better should wait until spring.
On the one hand we really would like to raise her like a healthy child but on the other hand we know, of course, that she will not be able to take infections as easily as non-CF individuals. Our pediatritian recommends starting nursery school in December and inhaling cortisone from October on (we have never done this so far), so that she is a bit prepared.
We would like to hear your opinion.
Many thanks.

Answer

Hello,

It is not necessarily the case that a child with CF has more infections from the day he/she visits nursery school or that he/she is less able to take infections than children without CF. I frequently observe children with CF who suffer more rarely from banal infections than children without CF. Therefore, I would give a favourable opinion visiting the nursery school from December on. According to my opinion a preventative inhalation with cortisone is not recommend as long as your daughter has not been diagnosed with an allergic component. Regular throat culture tests, especially during periods of increased cough, but routinely as well are favourable: if the test shows that there are germs in the culture, then a specific antibiotic treatment can be started quickly.
In my opinion there is no reason not to start with nursery school in December.

Best regards,
Dr. Helmut Ellemunter

27.10.2011