Several people have been asking about our “Swine Flu” policy. Luckily, we already have several policies and procedures in place designed to ward off the spread of illness at our center. Beyond our standard exclusion guidelines, we plan to adhere to CDC recommendations.
According to the CDC, the primary ways to reduce the spread of influenza in schools is:
1)To focus on early identification of ill students, faculty and staff
2) To have students, faculty and staff stay home when ill; and
3) to wash hands frequently (for 20sec/singing “happy birthday”) and
4) always cough into fabric (the sleeve on your inner elbow).
5) Clean and sanitize EVERYTHING regularly.
In addition, we wish to remind parents to ALWAYS wash their own hands in addition to assisting their children in washing hands every time they enter a classroom – at pick up and drop off. We would also like to specify that while we have placed hand sanitizer throughout the school – we do not allow children to use this as a substitute for hand washing. Additionally, children should never use hand sanitizer with out adult guidance. Removing shoes before entering classrooms also helps to keep the classroom free of outside debris.
Students, faculty and staff with flu like illness (fever, cough, sore throat) are asked to stay home, not to attend school or other public places, except to seek medical care for at least 7days, even if symptoms resolve sooner.
ChildRoots officially follows the CCD exclusion guidelines which state that children should be excluded from group care when the presence of the child poses a risk of the spread of infection to other children. Or when the ill child requires more attention and care than is available by the regularly scheduled staff.
ChildRoots does not admit or retain in care a child who has one of the following symptoms, or combination of symptoms, or illness:
- Fever over 100.5 degrees F
- Diarrhea (more than one loose, runny, watery or bloody stool)
- Vomiting
- Nausea
- Sever cough (consistent coughing fits lasting more than 5 min)
- Stiff neck or headache
- Sever rash that is weeping, pus-filled, or rapidly spreading
- Difficulty breathing or abnormal wheezing
- Complaints of severe pain
- Any eye lesion that is weeping or pus-filled
Children must be symptom free for 24hrs without the aid of pain or fever reducers prior to their re-admittance to the center.
Additionally, we are encouraging (but not requiring) staff to get both the standard and the N1H1 flu shot. We would extend the same recommendation to families who have a higher risk of infection*.
We also ask parents to keep us informed of any flu like symptoms that your child or other member of your household may exhibit. We request that children in households with ill family members stay home even if they are not yet exhibiting symptoms.
If a case of the flu is reported in a classroom, we will start by posting a health alert and fact sheet in the room, like we do for all other illnesses. If multiple flu cases are reported, or the flu seems to be “spreading” we may need to close infected classrooms or even the entire center. Such and event would be considered and unscheduled closure.
We will continue to follow the CDC recommendations for schools regarding flu procedures and policies and will continue to update this post with pertinent information.
Click here for information regarding symptoms and Cold Vs Flu
*If you or your child are known to be at high-risk of flu complications, please be sure to notify your teachers or the director.