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Download Childhood Illnesses Jan 2016 - Great Kimble C. of E. School
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GREAT KIMBLE Cof E SCHOOL Common Childhood Diseases The following is a list of common illnesses/diseases that our pupils may occasionally suffer. Parents have asked that we have a list of what to do regarding keeping children from school. Please note that we have put this list together with support from the internet, so this is a guideline. Do check with your GP or NHS direct if you are ever anxious about your child! This is a summary table: look below for further information: Infection or complaint Chickenpox Recommended period to be kept away from school Until all vesicles have crusted over Conjunctivitis Diarrhoea and/or vomiting Hand, foot and mouth Headlice Impetigo None 48 hours from last episode of diarrhea or vomiting None None Until lesions are crusted and healed, or 48 hours after starting antibiotic treatment Four days from onset of rash (Notifiable disease) None Measles Molluscum contagiosum Mumps Threadworms This is a notifiable disease. Doctors must report to proper officer of the local authority. Exclusion not usually required Child can return 24 hours after starting antibiotic treatment (Notifiable disease) None Exclude only if the rash is weeping and cannot be covered None Tonsilitis None Whooping Cough Five days from starting antibiotic treatment or 21 days from onset of illness if no antibiotic treatment (Notifiable disease) Ringworm Scarlet Fever Slapped cheek Shingles Comments See details below See separate policy See details below Preventable by vaccination Self-limiting condition Treatment is required See details below Spread by very close contact and touch Treatment is recommended for child and household contacts Many causes, but most cases are due to viruses and do not need an antibiotic Preventable by vaccination Chickenpox It starts off with a few red spots or bumps (often mistaken for insect bites). Fever is common. The next day many more bumps will appear, and the first bumps will have turned into blisters. On the third day, more new bumps will appear, and the second-day bumps will start to blister. On day 4 the original blisters will start to crust over. Usually by day 5, no new bumps will appear, and more blisters will crust over. By day 7, most or all of the blisters will be crusted over. The fever can last for 5 days. The total number of spots is around 200 on average. Childhood illness advice updated January 2016 The key to diagnosing chickenpox. Watch the progression of spots from bumps to blisters to crusts, and to have a mix of all three types during the illness. Very important note – it is nearly impossible to diagnose chickenpox on day 1, and still difficult to know for certain on day 2. Therefore, doctors request that you do not take your child to the doctor until day 3 if you expect a definite diagnosis. If you think its chickenpox, then quarantine your child until day 3. If the spots have progressed as described above, then you probably don't even need a doctor to confirm it. Your child is contagious starting the day before fever or spots appear, until 24 hours after all the blisters have crusted over. This usually takes about 7 days from beginning to end. We ask that you keep your child off school until all the blisters have crusted over. Impetigo Impetigo is a highly contagious skin infection. Small red spots typically appear on the skin of the face (especially around the mouth and nose), neck or hands, although any part of the body may be affected. The spots may be clustered or merge together. The centre of each one rapidly becomes a blister, which then bursts, oozing a typical golden fluid. Crusts form over the red spots, which may be itchy or slightly sore. If impetigo is suspected, you must take your child to see your doctor as the condition is infectious, and antibiotic treatment is important. In mild cases, antibiotic cream applied locally to the spots may be all that is needed, but in more severe cases antibiotic tablets or syrup must be taken. In most cases impetigo heals within a week if treated with antibiotics. Because the condition is contagious, children with impetigo must be kept from school until all the spots have crusted and dried. Threadworms Threadworm is passed from person to person and is usually spread via children. The female worms lay eggs on a person's skin around the anus. This leads to itching and scratching of the area and then leads to eggs being transferred onto the fingers. The eggs can then be passed by direct contact, or through sharing toys, pencils, food, etc. You can often see threadworms, a 1cm thread-like worm, in your child's stools or their bottom. Threadworms do not cause serious damage but they are an irritating problem. Besides the intense itching, which can be distressing and embarrassing for the sufferer, they can also lead to disturbed sleep, tummy aches, irritable crying, loss of appetite or an unusually large appetite. Good hygiene is essential to stop the infection being spread, including washing hands and scrubbing under the nails before eating and after visiting the toilet. To help prevent the spread of threadworms and other infections, it is important to encourage young children to regularly wash and dry their hands. Threadworms are very easy to treat. The same kind of threadworm treatment most prescribed by doctors is available from pharmacies without a prescription. There is no reason to keep your child off school, but do please inform us so that we can remind ALL children about the need for careful hand washing. Diarrhea and Vomiting The main symptoms of viral gastroenteritis are watery diarrhea and vomiting. Other symptoms are headache, fever, chills, and abdominal pain. Symptoms usually appear within 4 to 48 hours after exposure to the virus and last for 1 to 2 days. The viruses are commonly transmitted by people with unwashed hands. People can get the viruses through close contact with infected individuals by sharing their food, drink, or eating utensils. We request that pupils who have suffered from diarrhoea and vomiting do not return to school until 48 hours after their last vomiting attack or loose bowel movement. Head Lice Head Lice, sometimes called nits, are very common in children. They are insects that live on the human head, which is the perfect warm, humid environment for them to thrive. These parasites feed on blood Childhood illness advice updated January 2016 from the scalp. This can cause itching, and although they don't carry disease, scratching can break the skin, leaving it open to infection. Each head louse has an adult life span of 30 days, during which it could lay up to 300 eggs. While alive, they can be difficult to get rid of because they can survive washing by holding on tightly to the hair, and closing the holes along the sides of their bodies that they breathe through for long periods of time. There are a number of solutions on the market to help treat lice; but if your child has long hair please do tie it up in bunches, a pony tail, plait etc. Once you have treated the hair with a treatment shampoo, please do use conditioner and a Head Lice comb every time you wash your child’s hair until all the treated eggs have gone. If you spot lice in your child’s hair, please do treat IMMEDIATELY. Thank you. Slapped cheek Slapped cheek syndrome is a common childhood viral infection. However, it can affect people of all ages. The most common symptom of slapped cheek syndrome is the appearance of a bright red rash on both cheeks (hence the name). In children, slapped cheek syndrome is almost always a mild, self-limiting infection, which means that it will get better by itself without the need for treatment. The incubation period between catching the virus and showing any symptoms is one to two weeks. Slapped cheek disease often occurs in outbreaks because children can be infectious for up to two weeks before any signs appear. It is no longer infectious once the rash has appeared. Once your child has had slapped cheek disease, he or she will not catch it again. As a virus causes slapped cheek disease, antibiotics won’t help to treat it, and children do not need to be kept off school. If, however, your child suffers from any discomfort a mild paracetemol such as Calpol can be administered before school. Scarlet Fever/Scarlatina Scarlet fever, also known as scarlatina, gets its name from the fact that the patient's skin, especially on the cheeks, is flushed. The disease primarily affects children. A sore throat and a raised, sandpaper-like rash over much of the body are accompanied by fever and sluggishness. The fever usually subsides within a few days, and recovery is complete by two weeks. After the fever is gone, the skin on the face and body flakes. Although scarlet fever often clears up spontaneously within a few days, antibiotic treatment with oral antibiotics is usually recommended to reduce the severity of symptoms, prevent complications, and prevent spread to others. This is a contagious disease, spread by sneezing and coughing. Please keep your child at home for 24 hours after diagnosis. Childhood illness advice updated January 2016