Wow! What a range of responses on this one!!
I have been there, and I know you are probably as emotionally and physically exhausted as your sick little one! Both my kids were sick with different things:
My daughter, now almost 7, had constant ear infections and rashes. She also had RSV and several bouts of bronchiolitis. At age 2 1/2 or so, she was diagnosed with excema, age 3(ish) a severe allergy to mold, at 6 with TONS of allergies - some food, most environmetal (grass, and trees to name the biggest offenders). She was tested at 3 for all the same things and came back negative except for the mold. How frustrating to find out 3 years later that she really was allergic to all those things and had to suffer for no reason! We tried chiropractic care since she was about 18 months, for her, it didn't make the difference in ear infections. The tubes and getting older did.
My son, 2 1/2 has been sick with everything in the book since he had his first ear infection at 4 days old! He has had RSV at least 3 times, Rotovirus and Influenza at the same time when he was 8 months old... non-stop ear infections, and was diagnosed with asthma about a year ago. Getting the asthma under control made a big difference with him, but the biggest difference was made for him by chiropractic care. He had literally had non-stop ear infections for 10 months in a row (even with tubes). We started seeing the chiropractor last January. We went once a week until May when different circumstances made us miss 2-3 weeks. He didn't have a single ear infection that whole time, but as soon as we missed a few appt., he got a REALLY bad one (his whole face swelled up)... we have been going every other week for quite a while, and he has done awesome! His asthma has been easier to control, he's only had a couple ear infections (usually with a bad cold), he's also been sick in general way less! I think whoever said 2 was the magic number, was definately right for him... We did end up having to have his tonsils taken out, because they started swelling and he had sleep apnea...
My point is, that every child is going to respond differently to different treatments. Also, there may be underlying health issues that may not even show up on tests for a couple years (i.e. allergies). It sounds like the rash may be an allergic reaction to the antibiotic. My son had been on Cefzil several times, then all the sudden started developing rashes afterwards - we discovered he's allergic!
As for the child care debate going on, I am a preschool teacher, and it hurts me to hear people leading to the idea that child care providers don't care about the children in their care. Even though they wear me out, I see the 30 children in my classroom almost as my own!
I will also have you know, that in my experience, most infant rooms have at least one teacher that is almost OCD about cleaning. I wouldn't worry about that - honest!
Hang in there, it will get better!!! Try what you need to to help your child (and you) get through this tough time! This has been the worst winter for illnesses that I have seen, let's all hope and pray that it's over soon!!