London, March 6 (IANS): Faced with mounting work pressure, young parents often send their kids to nurseries even when they are suffering from cough or other respiratory tract infections (RTIs).

Such decisions can often result in spread of these illnesses in the community, a new research says.

Researchers from the University of Bristol, Britain, found that parents viewed coughs and colds as less serious and not contagious in the same way as sickness or diarrhoea symptoms.

"Parents are aware that sending their child to daycare centre when they are unwell is not always the ideal thing to do, but there are often other factors, meaning it is not possible to keep their child at home,” said Fran Carroll, research associate at University of Bristol.

"However, there are some changes that nurseries could make which may help parents with their decisions and reduce the spread of infectious illnesses in both children and staff in nursery environments," she added.

The research found parents made decisions not only based on what the nursery policy was for illness, but also on practical issues such as missing time from work, financial consequences and the availability of alternative care.

Parents who participated in the research also named some nursery factors that could be changed to help them keep unwell children at home.

These included a reduction in nursery fees if the child cannot attend, being able to swap sessions, and clearer guidance on nursery sickness policies.