Story highlights A study examined hand hygiene among young children in day care

Using hand sanitizer reduced sick days, respiratory infections and antibiotic prescriptions

(CNN) Young children inevitably have a lot of runny noses and sore throats, but how they clean their hands could cut back on how often they miss day care, according to a study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

Researchers in Spain found that children who cleaned their hands with sanitizer instead of soap and water reduced their missed days of school, respiratory infections and antibiotic prescriptions.

Researchers studied 911 children up to age 3 who attended 24 day care centers in Almería, Spain. They split the children, their families and their day care centers into three groups: One group used hand sanitizer to clean hands, and one used soap and water, both with strict protocols about hygiene. A third, the control group, followed its usual hand-washing routines.

All three groups attended hand hygiene workshops before the study began. But the hand sanitizer and soap-and-water groups attended follow-up sessions about respiratory infections and fevers and received documentation about hand hygiene. They were given hygiene protocols including washing hands before and after lunch, as they arrived home and after coughing, sneezing or blowing their noses, the study said.

During the eight-month study period, the 911 students had 5,211 respiratory infections that led to 5,186 missed days of day care. The hand sanitizer group missed 3.25% of days of day care, followed by the soap and water group, which missed 3.9% of days. The group following its usual hand-washing routine missed 4.2% of days.

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