Scarlet Fever

[littleINlpn]

I was just told by a teacher that one of her students has scarlet fever. Oh joy. We are a fairly new public charter school and when I came in there was a nurse who had helped start up the school, so there are some policies that just haven't been made. I need some help on what to do! Will i need to send out a letter to parents stating there was a child with it and tell them to look out for the s/s? I hate feeling helpless/unkowledgeable.

[Cattz, ADN]

First. Confirm that with was actually diagnosed by a dr. Second, check to see if your state has something like this resource. If not. Here is a link to my go-to. http://health.mo.gov/living/families/schoolhealth/pdf/Communicable_Disease.pdf pages 206 and 207 has the info. As far as sending a letter. I would call your county health department.

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

I second calling your public health department. They are awesome at helping with something like this and can step you through any steps you may / may not need to do.

[OldDude]

Strep is omni-present any time of the school year and scarlet fever is simply a streptococcal rash so I wouldn't send out any notification. Exclusion and return to school would apply to this condition just like any other contagious disease.

[grammy1]

As long as the student is being treated for strep, we don't do anything. They are permitted to return to school after being on abx for 24 hours. If we don't send out notes for strep, we don't send them out for scarlet fever. That being said, we are a little more vigilant about kids with sore throats, and more likely to recommend parents take them for a strep test. It isn't reportable either.

Edited to add: I agree, the health department is your best source of information, the above are our directions from our health department.