Preventing and managing common childhood illnesses
As winter sets in, our Health Protection Team is sharing essential guidance to help schools prevent and manage common childhood illnesses and outbreaks during the colder months
Preventing outbreaks:
· We recommend displaying this poster in your school office area which summaries the guidance on when to keep children off school Should I keep my child off school checklist poster (publishing.service.gov.uk)
· The Government guidance for settings to help prevent the spread of infection is here Preventing and controlling infections - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
· E-bug produce fantastic resources and lesson plans to teach children how to protect themselves from infection, aligned to the national curriculum, GHLL can help direct you to the resources you need E-Bug : Gloucestershire Healthy Living and Learning (ghll.org.uk)
· And this Winter readiness toolkit from our regional UK Health Security Agency team has all the information you need to help prevent and manage infections in early years and education settings UKHSA Infection Protection and Winter Readiness and Control Toolkit for Early Years and Education Settings - South West Councils (swcouncils.gov.uk).
Responding to outbreaks:
· If you believe your school has an outbreak the Government guidance on how to respond is here Managing outbreaks and incidents - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
· If you need advice or need to report an outbreak our South West UKHSA Health Protection Team contact details are:
o 0300 303 8162 or
· A reminder that school closures or limiting people who are well from attending a school setting for public health reasons, is only recommended in exceptional circumstances and as a last resort. When this decision is taken it should be discussed within a multi-agency meeting (commonly called an Incident Team Meeting (IMT)) before being implemented. Please contact the South West UKHSA Health Protection Team in the first instance.
Health protection updates:
· With high cases of flu and other common childhood illnesses circulating currently please remind parents that it is never too late to catch up on routine child vaccinations to prevent illness and outbreaks. More information can be found here NHS vaccinations and when to have them - NHS (www.nhs.uk). Contact your GP or, if applicable, the school immunisation team at GHC.Immunisation@ghc.nhs.uk or 0300 421 8140 to book.
· Human papillomavirus, or HPV, is a group of common viruses. HPV lives in the skin and cells lining the inside of our body, this includes the genital area, mouth, and throat and anyone can be affected. HPV can also increase the risk of developing some cancers in later life. Getting the HPV vaccine is the best way to protect yourself – find out more here About HPV - HPV Inform and check in with the school age immunisation team for any further discussions - School-aged Immunisation Team > CYPS Glos Health & Care NHS
· Please also be mindful of the winter vomiting bug, practicing good hand hygiene goes a long way to preventing spread, this poster may help - Stop norovirus spreading poster.
· Please encourage any pregnant staff to get up to date with vaccinations to protect themselves and their baby from common winter bugs such as flu, RSV and whooping cough, there is more information in this leaflet Pregnant? Immunisation helps to protect you and your baby from infectious diseases.
For examples, please take a look at the bulletin board at this link http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/schoolsnet/noticeboard/schoolsnet-bulletin-board/