The health of our students is important to us, and we work hard to keep the school environment clean and to partner with families to teach and model good hygiene practices. We also remain in close contact with local health agencies to stay alerted to any serious outbreaks of communicable illnesses.
Along with general cleaning, top custodial priorities include: daily cleaning and sanitizing of restrooms, door handles and other high-contact areas like elevators, buttons for automatic doors, and stairway handrails.
One of the most important things you can do to stop the spread of germs is keep sick people at home. Sore throat, body aches, vomiting, diarrhea, and/or a temperature of 100 degrees F or higher are reasons to stay home. Your child should be fever-free for 24 hours without medicine before returning to school. Also consider whether your child is rested and alert enough to learn, pay attention in class, and participate in all school activities.
Meningococcal disease is caused by a group of bacteria that lives in the nose and throat; this can cause a disease known as meningococcal meningitis. Adolescents and young adults have an increased rate of contracting meningitis, as compared to the general population. Symptoms of the disease may include fever, chills, rash, headaches, confusion, and a stiff neck. The disease is spread through direct contact with infected material, including kissing, coughing, sneezing, or sharing eating or drinking utensils.
The Washington State Department of Health wants you to be aware of this illness and the availability of a vaccine to protect against meningitis. Vaccination can help protect against up to 83% of the meningitis diseases occurring among adolescents and young adults. While the vaccine is recommended for children entering middle and high school, this vaccine can benefit teenagers and young adults. Meninngococcal vaccine is not required for school attendance.
Additional information about meningitis can be found on the Washington State Department of Health website, http://www.doh.wa.gov/EHSPHL/factsheet/meningococcal.htm, or on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, http://www.cdc.gov/meningitis/about/faq.html.
“Staph” bacteria are a common cause of skin infections. When certain antibiotics don’t kill the staph bacteria, it means the bacteria have become resistant to those antibiotics. Resistant staph bacteria are called MRSA. MRSA skin infections may present as an abscess, impetigo, boil, “turf/rug burn” or an open wound. The infection is often mistaken for a spider bite. Symptoms can include fever, redness, warmth, swelling, drainage, and tenderness at the site. If students don’t feel well and have any of these symptoms, it is best for them to stay home and see their licensed health care provider.
Snohomish Health District has shared with us that although MRSA is an important health issue, most illnesses caused by MRSA are treatable skin infections that heal with proper wound care, sometimes without requiring antibiotics. Even in severe cases, most patients respond to commonly available antibiotics.
MRSA is primarily spread through contact with the bacteria, either by direct person-to-person contact or indirectly through shared equipment, personal articles/objects or contaminated surfaces. Examples of shared objects include drinking containers, towels, soap, razors, clothing, and athletic equipment.
In addition to our regular cleaning procedures, the following precautions are in place for our student athletes that are involved in contact sports, especially wrestling:
Additional information about MRSA can be found on the Snohomish Health District website, www.snohd.org, or on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website: http://www.cdc.gov/Features/MRSAinSchools.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted virus in the United States. About 20 million people in the U.S. are infected, and about 6 million more get infected each year. More than 50% of sexually active men and women are infected with HPV at sometime in their lives.
Most HPV infections don’t cause any symptoms and go away on their own. HPV is important mainly because it can cause cervical cancer in women. Every year in the U.S. about 10,000 women get cervical cancer and about 4,000 are expected to die from it. It is the 2nd leading cause of cancer deaths among women around the world. HPV is also associated with several less common types of cancer in both and women as well as genital warts and warts in the upper respiratory tract. There is no treatment for HPV infection, but the conditions
it causes can be treated.
The Washington State Department of Health wants you to be aware of this illness and the availability of a vaccine that protects against four major types of HPV. These include two types that cause about 70% of cervical cancer and two types that cause about 90% of genital warts. Protection from HPV vaccine is expected to be long-lasting. But vaccinated women still need cervical cancer screening because the vaccine does not protect against all HPV types that cause cervical cancer. The vaccine is recommended for girls 11-12 years of age. Doctors may give it to girls as young as 9 years old. HPV vaccine is not required for school attendance.
Additional information about HPV can be found on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website: www.cdc.gov/hpv
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Important: This is not a complete explanation of the listed illnesses or the benefits and risks associated with the available vaccines. The Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourage you to learn more about communicable diseases by speaking to your licensed health care provider.
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