Communicable diseases are diseases that can be transmitted from person-to-person or through another vector such as insects or animals. Examples of communicable diseases include measles, pertussis (whooping cough), norovirus and influenza.- Communicate any unusual clusters of illness such as a diarrhea outbreak, rash-like-illnesses, or anything else that may be of concern
- Distribute information and exposure letters to parents and caregivers
- Foster a positive attitude in the classroom about keeping healthy through disease prevention (i.e. hand washing, cough etiquette, and routine practices)
- Provide public health with student directory and homeroom/class lists as requested
- Provide appropriate space for safe immunization clinics including a waiting area for students to remain 15 minutes following immunization
- Direct all communicable disease questions to the nurse
- Protect the public from communicable diseases by distributing vaccines, immunizing, detecting and controlling outbreaks and providing public health advice and education
- Implement public health follow up of individual cases and contacts that live within VCH
- Work closely with you to assess any situations and advise on appropriate control measures
Sneezes & Diseases is an excellent resource for teachers, parents and caregivers. It includes but is not limited to information about common communicable diseases in children from birth through school age. The guide is divided into four sections:
- Prevention
- Facts about diarrhea, vomiting and fever
- Fact sheets about infections and diseases children sometimes get
- Infestation fact sheets