HEALTH BULLETIN BOARD:

Catch a Smile
We have been contacted by the State Health Department and we're happy to report that the Catch a Smile fluoride mouthrinse program will be offered again this year. Parents should return the permission slip that their child brought home ASAP.

Dental Care for Persons with Disabilities
The University of Iowa, Center for Disabilities and Development Dental Care for Persons with Disabilities Program began in 1983 and provides free dental care for children (less than 21 years old) with disabilities or special health care needs…for example: Asthma, ADD/ADHD, Cancer, Cerebral Palsy, Hemophilia, Mental Illness, Mental Retardation, Physical Disability

The children must be from families whose income is less than 200% of poverty income and who are not insured with Title XIX or dental insurance. The program provides preventive care. There is also limited coverage for restorative dental care. Clinics are available in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids.

For more information and an application visit their website at iowapediatricdentistry.com (click on “Outreach”) or call 319-356-1513.

Asthma Inhalers
During allergy season, beginning of spring and summer sports, and field trips, parents of students with asthma should make sure their child (children) have at least one rescue inhaler at school at all times. Children who can demonstrate that they know how to effectively self-administer the inhaled medication may carry their inhaler with them but the office needs to know that they’re doing this. It’s a good idea to keep a spare inhaler in the school office. Athletes should give their coach an inhaler to carry in the first aid bag. All inhalers should be clearly marked with the student’s name.

Request for Necessary Medication in School should be completed and on file the school office. You can also get a form from your child’s attendance center.

Hidden Asthma Triggers Can Lurk in Homes, Work and Schools
Iowa Department of Health article.

CCA Illness Policy
IMPORTANT: Please report your child's illness
Please review the following guidelines about student illnesses:

• Please notify the school if your child is going to be absent or tardy for any reason.
• If the absence is due to an illness, please let us know your child’s symptoms (i.e. nausea, vomiting, fever, headache, sore throat, cough,
  rash, body aches, etc.).
• If your child sees their healthcare provider for the illness, please let us know the outcome of that visit and if your child was diagnosed with a contagious disease. This will help us track illnesses, identify outbreaks, and allow us to notify the health department if a reportable communicable disease is identified.
• If your child is ill, he/she should not return to school until his/her symptoms have subsided and he/she has been fever-free for 24 consecutive hours.
• If your child’s healthcare provider prescribes an antibiotic for a contagious illness, your child should not return to school until 24 hours after starting the medication.

The school nurse or office personnel will evaluate students who become ill at school. If it is determined that the child is too sick to remain in school, a parent/guardian will be called and asked to come and pick the child up.

Thanks for your help in adhering to these guidelines that will help keep our school healthy and decrease the risks of spreading contagious diseases. Feel free to call or email CCA school nurse, Kathy Campbell, with questions or concerns.

Common Diseases & Prevention

E.coli information
E. coli fact sheet from IA Dept. of Health

One of best ways to prevent infection is to practice good hand washing. All surfaces of your hands, fingers, and wrists should be thoroughly washed with soap, water, and friction (rubbing them together)…
...before preparing food or drinks
...before eating
...after using the toilet
...after changing a diaper (have the child wash their hands, also).

If you are caring for someone with diarrhea, wash your hands with soap, water, and friction after cleaning the bathroom, after helping the person use the toilet, and after changing soiled diapers, clothes, and bedding. Be sure to have the ill person wash their hands, too.

Fifth Disease Information
This is a contagious viral illness spread from person to person with direct contact with infected respiratory secretions. Persons with Fifth Disease typically have a “slapped cheek” rash on their face and a pink, lacey rash on their limbs and trunk. Sometimes the rash may itch. Usually people with Fifth Disease are not very ill, but may have a fever, headache, malaise, or cold-like symptoms a few days before the rash occurs. About 50% of adults have had the disease and are immune. Adults who do get Fifth Disease may experience joint pain and/or swelling. Fifth Disease is generally considered a mild illness but may be serious for persons with sickle-cell disease, chronic anemia, and immune deficiencies. Occasionally, serious complications may develop from Fifth Disease during pregnancy. Pregnant women who feel they may have been exposed to the disease should contact their healthcare provider. Persons with Fifth Disease do not have to be excluded from school or work as long as they are fever-free. As with most illnesses, frequent handwashing is the best defense.

Head Lice
 Head Lice Fact Sheet (pdf)
Lice are not as easily transmitted as once believed.  Live bugs prefer to stay on one’s warm body and close to the scalp.  They don’t hop, jump, or fly onto other people. Lice are usually transmitted from person to person by direct contact and occasionally through indirect contact such as sharing combs, brushes, or clothing.  According to the Iowa State Department of Public Health, “Lice are transmitted in community settings where close contact from play and living activities occur.  While lice infestations are recognized in elementary schools, it is safe to assume that only a minority of lice infestations in school-age youngsters are actually acquired while at school.”  The health department suggests that weekly screening at home provides the opportunity for prompt recognition and treatment.  If you find lice or nits, please follow the guidelines from the following fact sheet. 
 
Russell W. Currier, DVM, former Environmental Epidemiologist for the Iowa Department of Public Health summed up the lice issue this way:
“Kids should be free from lice.  They also need to attend school to get an education.  Parents have the primary responsibility for treatment of lice,
just as school staff is responsible for teaching.  Ideally, Iowa schools and parents should become partners in the effort to manage head lice.”

I welcome any questions or concerns you may have regarding this issue.  You may reach me by calling your child’s attendance center or by e-mail at kcampbell@cca.k12.ia.us.

Chicken Pox
Chicken pox is a communicable disease that is usually spread from person to person by direct contact with the drainage from the blisters or by droplet or airborne spread of respiratory secretions. It can sometimes be spread indirectly through articles that have been contaminated with drainage from the blisters. Chicken pox begins with an itchy, blistery rash and a mild fever. The blisters usually appear in clumps and are often described as a “dew drop on a rose petal” (water blister on a pinkish-red spot). Blisters often first appear in covered, warm areas of the body such as the arm pits, groin, and trunk. They quickly spread to other areas of the body, face, scalp, and extremities. The blistery rash continues to erupt for about 2-3 days. Children with chicken pox are usually contagious from about 1-2 days before the onset of the rash until all blisters have crusted over (approximately 5 days after the rash erupts). Children with chicken pox should be kept out of school until all of the blisters have crusted over and they have been fever-free for at least 24 hours.

If your child experiences symptoms of chicken pox, please contact your family doctor to discuss care.

Flu Information (influenza)
The flu is a contagious, viral, respiratory disease.  It is spread from person to person through coughing and sneezing.  Influenza signs and symptoms usually develop rapidly and include fever (usually high), head and body aches, sore throat, fatigue, cough, and a runny and/or stuffy nose.  Some may experience nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, but that is typically more common in children.  Persons with flu symptoms should stay home from school or work and contact their healthcare provider for further advice and treatment.  

CDC - Influenza (Flu) What Everyone Should Know About Flu and the Flu Vaccine: www.cdc.gov/flu/keyfacts.htm

Mono
Mono is a viral disease usually spread from person to person by direct contact with saliva.  Symptoms include fever, sore throat, headache, swollen glands, and fatigue. Severity of symptoms and course of illness can vary greatly from person to person. There is no specific treatment or medication for mono except for treating the symptoms. Students with mono do not need to be excluded from school, but may have limitations on their physical activity and may need more rest than usual.

Pertussis

Pertussis is spread through the air when infected people cough. Symptoms have two stages. The first begins like a cold with a runny nose, sneezing, and cough. The cough lasts for a week or two and then slowly gets worse. The second stage is marked by uncontrolled coughing spells and a whooping noise (in young children) when the person inhales. During severe coughing spells, a person may vomit or become blue in the face from lack of air. Between spells, the person often appears to be well. This stage lasts for four to six weeks. In adolescents and adults, pertussis often looks like chronic bronchitis.

Antibiotic therapy early in the course of the disease may decrease the severity of symptoms. Antibiotics are also recommended for people who are exposed to someone with whooping cough in order to prevent them from contracting and/or transmitting the disease.

The following recommendations are being made to help prevent further spread of pertussis at our school:

1. If your child is symptomatic (cold, persistent cough, etc.), please have your child evaluated by your health-care provider for whooping cough.
2. All newly identified cases of whooping cough, including people with cough illness, will be excluded from school until they have completed 5 of the 14 days of adequate antibiotic therapy.
   
3. People living in the same house as someone with whooping cough should receive antibiotics to prevent additional infections. In addition to antibiotics, children who are less than 7 years of age, who are unimmunized or have received less than 5 doses of DTP or DTaP and exposed to someone with whooping cough, should have immunization initiated or may need to continue immunization.
   
4. People exposed to someone with whooping cough who are asymptomatic (do not have any symptoms) may return to work/school immediately after beginning antibiotic preventive treatment.

Tick Bites and Prevention
The CDC recommends the following tick tips to protect your children:

• Avoid tick-infested areas. Local health departments, parks, and extension offices have information about areas that are infested with ticks.
  
  
• Wear light-colored clothing. This allows you to see ticks crawling on your clothes. Tuck pants into socks so the ticks cannot crawl up pant legs.
  
  
• Use chemical repellent with DEET or permethrin. Spray the repellent on boots, shoes, and clothing. Avoid getting repellent on the hands and in the eyes and mouth.
  
  
• Check your child's body for ticks daily. Be sure to look under their arms, in and around their ears, inside their belly button, on the back of their knees, in and around their hair, between their legs, and around their waist.
  
  
• Check your child’s clothing and family pets for ticks.
  
  
• To safely remove a tick, use fine-tipped tweezers and protect bare hands with a tissue or a glove to avoid contact with tick fluids. Grab the tick close to the skin and pull straight up. Do not twist or turn as you pull. Make sure all parts of the tick are removed. Clean the tick bite area with an antiseptic such as rubbing alcohol and wash your hands with soap and water. Monitor the site for redness, swelling, or other signs of infection and monitor your child for signs and symptoms of illness such as a rash or fever. Take your child to their healthcare provider if these develop.

Shingles
Shingles, Varicella zoster, is the virus that causes chicken pox. In some cases, after chicken pox, the virus stays hidden in body cells. Reactivation of that virus results in herpes zoster or shingles. The fluid in the shingles blisters is contagious and can cause chicken pox in someone who has never had chicken pox, but a person cannot get shingles from another person with shingles.

Symptoms of shingles include the eruption of blister-like lesions on one side of the body. The rash is usually painful and may last 10-15 days. Persons with shingles are contagious for approximately 24 hours before the rash occurs and up to 48 hours after breaking out.

If you suspect that your child may have chicken pox or shingles, please consult their healthcare provider.

Strep Throat
Common symptoms of strep throat include a scratchy and sore throat, pain or difficulty swallowing, enlarged glands, and fever. Some children complain of a stomachache, vomiting, and/or headache. Occasionally, persons with strep may have a fine rash. Strep is spread person to person by direct or intimate contact with an infected person or indirectly by contaminated articles or food. Symptomatic contacts should be tested. Children with strep should be excluded from school/daycare until 24 hours after starting an antibiotic. Additionally, children with fever whether strep related or not, should not return to school until they are fever-free for 24 consecutive hours.

Protecting Your Skin from the Sun
Longer, warmer days mean more time outside and more sun exposure. Even on cool, cloudy days, over 3/4 of the sun’s harmful rays reach earth. This means we can get a sunburn almost any day of the year. Anyone can sunburn and those sunburns increase our risk of skin cancers including melanoma (the deadliest form of skin cancer). Protecting the skin from harmful sun rays as a child and teenager can significantly reduce that risk. The University of Iowa Department of Dermatology offers these tips for sun safety:

• Use sunscreen with at least 30 SPF every day of the year. Apply to dry skin before going outside. (Avoid using sunscreen on babies 6 months or younger.)
• Minimize sun exposure between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
• When outside, wear hats with brims of 4 inches or more.
• Wear protective sunglasses with UV-blocking filters.
• Some medications can increase the skin’s sensitivity to harmful sun’s rays – if you are taking medications, check with your doctor or pharmacist to see if you need to take extra precautions.

Tanning beds, booths, and other such devices can also damage our skin – often just as much as the harmful sun’s UV rays. Exposure to the lights of these artificial tanning devices has been linked to an increased risk of developing skin cancers. Tanning sprays and lotions ("tan in a bottle") create a chemical reaction on the surface of the skin and are considered safe to use provided you don’t have an allergy to one of the ingredients.

Protecting our skin now can help protect us from serious skin diseases in the future. Consult your healthcare provider for more information on sunscreens and sun safety.