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DoDEA School Health Services Manual 2942.0 Volume 1 Revised: 2016 DRAFT
I-3
Communicable Disease Control
Page 1 of 3
A communicable disease is an illness transmitted from a person or an animal to
another person through a variety of ways that include contact with blood and bodily
fluids, contaminated substances or inanimate objects, or breathing in airborne viruses.
Many communicable diseases are present at any given time whenever children are in
close proximity of each other, as in schools. Students in close contact with each other
should be observed routinely for signs and symptoms of communicable diseases.
When a suspected communicable disease is observed, that student should be
referred to the school nurse for assessment. After assessment, notification should be
made to the student’s sponsor/parent/guardian, the teacher, and the principal if the
illness is a suspected reportable communicable disease. As part of a preventative
health program, the
sponsor/parent/guardian and the teacher should be given
exclusion and re-admittance parameters. The school nurse needs coordinate with the
local medical treatment facility regarding reportable communicable diseases, signs and
symptoms, treatment, and parameters for re-admittance to school.
Periodic information from the school to sponsors/parents/guardians/community
regarding the signs and symptoms, treatment, and exclusion and re-admittance
criteria for the more common “childhood” communicable diseases will help to foster
the home-school partnership bond and alleviate fears and uncertainties within the
community.
At all times, the privacy of the student and his or her family should be of the
utmost importance. Remind faculty and staff that this information is confidential and
is being shared with them on a need-to-know basis.
Communicable disease control changes continuously based on current research
and best evidence based practice. For current, reliable, and best evidence based
practice reference regarding specific diseases see, Communicable Disease List below
and link.