Public Health Implication of Shared Toys Amongst Children Age 1-5 Years Attending Crech and Nursery Schools within the Cross River State Region. A Case Study in Calabar Metropolis

Author(s): Usang Akedor, Ekeng Ita, Boniface Ati, Victoria Okon, Michael Adegbenro

A fundamental aspect of child growth is playfare hence toys come in handy. Cognitive development in children is largely a product of quality engagement at playtime (Alfred, 2015). The ability of microbes to colonize the hands and in extension everything or object it contacts is legendary (Usang,2013). Twenty toys commonly used by children were sampled from ten (10) nursery and Creche Schools in Calabar Metropolis. Toys from four (4) schools were found to harbor pathogenic microbes suggesting their potency as vehicles of disease transmission disease causing microbes isolated range between bacteria and fungi amongst which are Escherichia Coli; Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus Spp, and Candida Albicans. The study has established the ability of toys to convey disease causing microbes, if healthy sanitary conditions are not regularly maintained, hence the recommendations for the need for proper hygiene among school children and children handlers or teachers teaching of regular handwashing protocol to children of school growing age and regular sanitization of hand held toys amongst others.

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