Children are great incubators and spreaders of bugs. Hence why flu vaccine is being rolled out to UK children. Nurseries try really hard to install good hygiene but it isn’t easy – they still lapse.

New Scientist has reported a study of 4 Michigan nurseries caring for 600 under-fives where each nursery reported illnesses online.

The study team spotted a 2 day spike in nursery stomach bugs and a gastroenteritis outbreak amongst school aged children 3 weeks later.

They’re suggesting that nurseries could be used in a similar way to canaries down mines. When nurseries spot illnesses, schools, and even nursing homes could take precautions such as greater hygiene to reduce risk for people attending and living respectively with them. If flu people could be alerted to take vaccines – they have potentially a 3 week warning.

Clearly more work needs to be done on this but potentially this could really improve public health and reduce spikes in health service demand.

How to get this explored in London?