Communicable Corner 1/20/12
By: Colleen Ziebol, Licensed School Nurse
Welcome to the Valley View Communicable Corner; a weekly column to share the latest trends in communicable illness. The intent of this column is to keep parents informed and to minimize the spread of infectious illness at school. The following cases of communicable illness were reported the week of January 17 – January 20: Mononucleosis – one case grade 7, Strep – one case grade 9 and Influenza-like-illness (ILI) – one case grade 7. The average daily student absence this week, related to illness was 27 students/day. This represents a decrease of 3 students/day from last week. Trends in presenting symptoms include gastrointestinal pain and diarrhea. Students are also presenting with signs of exhaustion, identifying increased demands with extracurricular sports and the end of the semester approaching.
The Minnesota Department of Health did not receive any reports of outbreak of influenza-like illness (ILI) during week two, in Minnesota schools. Since the start of the season, 14 outbreaks of ILI have been reported. Information on influenza, including can be found at State Department of Health’s website: http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/idepc/diseases/flu/index.html. The most current information about the spread of the flu in the US can be found at: Flu.gov.
With the return of cold weather, please remind your child to dress appropriately (warm coats, hats and mittens) to prevent frostbite. Remember, good hand washing and hygiene practices, such as covering your cough, can stop the spread of communicable illness including influenza. Remember, good hand washing and hygiene practices, such as covering your cough, can stop the spread of communicable illness including influenza. Routine washing of PE clothes also promotes health and wellness. Parents, please remind your child to bring their gym clothes home on a weekly basis to be laundered.
In general, please keep your child home if they are running a temperature over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, have vomited or had diarrhea in the past 24 hours and have other symptoms of illness. Students should remain home for at least 24 hours after their fever is gone without fever reducing medicine or has not had any episodes of diarrhea or vomiting for 24 hours. Rashes may be disease related. Any student with a suspicious, unidentified rash must be seen by a health care provider. The rash must be identified and determined not to be contagious before returning the school. The student must provide written documentation from the health care provider indicating the diagnosis and information regarding the need for exclusion due to communicability. Report all absences to the attendance line at 952-848-3502. Remember to give specific details as to the reason for your child’s absence and presenting symptoms, if ill. Attendance personnel will forward calls involving communicable illness to the health office. Please contact the school nurse if your child has been injured, ill, or had surgery and requires special accommodations in their school day.