"Of the [122 preschool children enrolled in a rural county Head Start program in the United States during 2001-2002] children, 53% had a computer at home. Among families who had a computer, 83% had children's software on the computer. According to parents' reports, 29% of these children played on the home computer on a daily basis, and an additional 44% of the children played on the computer at least weekly. Of those families who did not have a home computer, 49% reported that their children had access to a computer somewhere outside home. Among these children, 10% had daily access to the computer and 33% had weekly access. The presence of a computer in the home was significantly associated with the family's income and the educational attainment of the parents.

"It is impossible to say exactly how many preliterate children possess their own e-mail accounts and Web sites, but companies that sell domain names and e-mail accounts say the trend is increasingly common. It is the latest expression of baby obsession in cyberspace, following the explosion over the last few years of Web logs documenting a child's every milestone and similar family Web sites filled with photographs.

...With less cynicism many parents say their motive in all this is driven by something other than a quest for URL cool: In the Internet Age, written diaries with locks of baby hair pasted on the pages and meticulously documented first words are fast being replaced by online baby journals and blogs; photo albums by digital pictures posted on Web sites, which can be viewed moments after birth; and congratulation cards and letters to new parents by e-mail messages."

Epidemiologists have known for some time that day-care centers expose young children to various diseases. Evidence is now accumulating indicating that day care imperils the well-being of children who have not yet even been born. The latest cautionary findings appear in a study published in Epidemiology & Infection by a team of researchers at McGill University and three Montreal hospitals.

Examining medical data collected from 492 female employees of 81 randomly selected Montreal day-care centers, the authors of the new study find that an alarming number of these employees were vulnerable to parvovirus B19, a pathogenic virus known to harm and even kill unborn children of infected pregnant women. The researchers calculate that among the women of childbearing age (younger than 50) involved in the study, almost one-third (30.6%) were "susceptible to acquiring B19 parvovirus infection." The researchers further report that "the proportion of susceptibles increased to 52.4% in those aged <25 years." Examining not only the age of day-care workers but also the length of their employment in the day-care setting, the Canadian scholars find longer employment in day-care centers strongly predicts susceptibility to the worrisome parvovirus: "A 5-year increase in day-care working experience was associated with a significantly increased risk of being seropositive for parvovirus at age 20 years (O[dds]R[atio] 1.76) and at age 30 years (O[dds]R[atio] 1.46)."

Because "parvovirus B19 infection in pregnancy is recognized in Canada as a hazard for the unborn child," the authors of the new study stress "the need for preventive measures." Rubber gloves and frequent hand-washing may help, but perhaps it is time for those who care about the well-being of the unborn on both sides of the border to start thinking about simply closing these disease-spreading centers and sending children home, where their own mothers can care for them.