Our Nurses are:

 Notes from the Health Office

We need your help to reduce the spread of illness in our schools!  Please remember to follow these general rules:

• Please keep your child home if he/she has had a fever, vomiting, or diarrhea in the last 24 hours.
• Please help us teach kids about the importance of hand washing - Washing hands is the single best way to prevent the spread of any illness.
• Please remember to update your child’s phone contacts if there are any changes during the year.  We need to be able to reach parents in the case of emergency or illness.
• Please call your child’s school nurse in the morning to report your child’s absence and reason for absence.  A written excuse MUST also be sent in when your child returns to school.
• Contact your child’s doctor or Ontario County Public Health at 1-800-299-2995 regarding a flu vaccination.
  

Children should NOT be sent to school if:

• They have a temperature over 100.5
• They have vomited at any time in the last 24 hours
• They have had diarrhea any time in the last 24 hours
• They have started antibiotics within the last 24 hours
• They have red eyes with thick or crusty drainage
• They have open sores that are red and draining

Please keep your child home from school until he/she has gone a FULL 24 hours:

• Without a fever (this is without the help of Tylenol or Ibuprofen)
• Without having any diarrhea
• Without any vomiting
• On antibiotics (if they are prescribed for a contagious condition

We rely heavily on parents’ good judgement about sending their children to school.  Please use your best judgement before sending your child to school with:

• A green runny nose; red and itchy/painful eyes
• A persistent cough
• A low grade fever (under 100.5, but above 99)
• Any persistent complaints that the child does not feel well
• A persistent sore throat
• An open sore that is red or draining

At school we are doing our part to stop the spread of illness by:

• Reminding the kids to wash their hands after using the bathroom, after coughing or sneezing, before eating, and any time they may be dirty.
• Reminding the kids to cover their cough and sneeze
  Keeping all open wounds covered with a bandage  
  

What is Staphylococcus aureus?

• Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a bacteria normally found on the skin or in the nose of 20 to 30 percent of healthy individuals. When S. aureus is present without causing symptoms, it is called colonization. If symptoms are present, it is called an infection.

What is MRSA?

• Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a strain of S. aureus that is resistant to methicillin, an antibiotic in the same class as penicillin, and is traditionally seen in people who have been recently hospitalized or who have been treated at a health care facility (such as treatment at a dialysis center).

What is CA-MRSA?

• Community-associated MRSA infections (CA-MRSA) are MRSA infections in healthy people who have not been hospitalized or had a medical procedure (such as dialysis or surgery) within the past year.

Who gets CA-MRSA?

• Anyone can get CA-MRSA, however outbreaks have been seen among athletes, prisoners, military recruits, daycare attendees, injection drug users and other groups of people who live in crowded settings and/or routinely share contaminated items. Poor hygiene practices, such as lack of hand washing, may spread the bacteria easily.