News from the Moretown Health Office

Our school nurse Deirdre Fennelly and two assistants!  

MORETOWN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL NURSE REMINDERS

SCHOOL NURSE REMINDERS

Health Questionnaires

If you haven’t returned the health questionnaire sent home at the beginning of the year, please send this in ASAP.  If you need a new copy, kindly let the office know.

Ticks and Lyme Disease

Please continue to check your children for ticks after spending time outdoors. Deer ticks (the tick that transmits Lyme disease) are able to survive throughout the year so the risk of Lyme disease is present year-round. Deer ticks live in grassy, wooded, brushy areas - where all children in Vermont like to play. Ticks typically must be attached for 24 hours or longer to spread lyme disease; so promptly removing them can prevent infection. It is important to check your children each evening before bathtime or bedtime for ticks.

If you find a tick attached to your child’s skin, there's no need to panic. There are several tick removal devices on the market, but a plain set of fine-tipped tweezers will remove a tick quite effectively.

1. Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin's surface as possible.
2. Pull upward with steady, even pressure. Don't twist or jerk the tick; this can cause the mouth-parts to break off and remain in the skin. If this happens, remove the mouth-parts with tweezers. If you are unable to remove the mouth easily with clean tweezers, leave it alone and let the skin heal.
3. After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol, an iodine scrub, or soap and water.
4. Dispose of a live tick by submerging it in alcohol, placing it in a sealed bag/container, wrapping it tightly in tape, or flushing it down the toilet.

For more information on ticks, please visit the Vermont Department of Health website @ http://healthvermont.gov/prevent/zoonotic/tickborne/ticks.aspx or feel free to chat with Deirdre in the School Health Office.

When to Keep Students Home From School

With cooling temperatures (soon to come) and the close quarters at school, germs and illness spread quickly, so please remember the following when your child is ill:

*Always keep your child at home if they have an elevated temperature.  Temperatures should be normal for 24 hours (without Tylenol or Ibuprofen) before he/she returns to school.  Children with a temperature of 100 or above cannot stay in school, and parents will be notified to pick them up.

   *If your child has vomited or had diarrhea, please keep him/her home until 24 hours after the last episode.

   *If your child has any rash that may be disease related or you do not know the cause, check with your family doctor before sending the child to school.

   *If your child has eye drainage and the whites of their eyes are pink or red, please take your child to the doctor.  Your child should not be rubbing his eyes if they are infected.  If the cause is from bacteria, your child may return to school after they have been on antibiotics for 24 hours.

   *If your child has a persistent cough, please keep them home

   *Strep Throat:  Children need to stay at home for 24 hours after antibiotic treatment begins and they are without a fever.

  *Influenza: Children with influenza are typically contagious 1 day before getting ill through 5-7 days after the onset of symptoms.  Please keep your child home for this time period if they are diagnosed with Influenza.

   *Please notify the school immediately if your child develops a communicable disease (strep throat, Influenza, chicken pox, impetigo, scarlet fever, pink eye, pertussis (whooping cough), etc.)

   *If your child becomes ill or is injured during the school day, you will be notified so arrangements can be made for your child to be taken home.  Please notify the school if your phone number changes so we can contact you.

   *Please read the letters that are sent home by the school nurse.  If there is a communicable disease in your child’s classroom, you will be notified.

   * Children should be dressed appropriately for the season and specific weather. 

   *To prevent the spread of infection:

o  Use good hand washing

o  Cover the cough

o  Keep your child home if they are sick

Please be in touch at any time with any questions or concerns.  

Warm regards,

Nurse Deirdre

dfennelly@wwsu.org