Open Discussion Forum

  • 1.  Excluding children with the common cold

    Posted 11-04-2021 02:23 AM
    hello all,

    I am trying very hard to get on top of a classroom that has passed around the common cold virus, for over a month.  Is it unreasonable for me to ask that parents bring their children with no symptoms?  Dry nose and little to no cough?  I'm worried my staff will go down and then what?
    Thanks in advance.

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    Shonna Clark
    Director
    Altadena Children's Center
    Altadena CA
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  • 2.  RE: Excluding children with the common cold

    Posted 11-04-2021 12:05 PM
    To be honest, with our COVID protocols in our County, we are required to send kids and employees home when they exhibit certain symptoms and also get a negative COVID test in order to return, with symptom improvement.  We have been doing that for a year.  The symptoms that look like a cold also look like COVID.  The hard part is it also means teachers need to be out.

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    Mary
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  • 3.  RE: Excluding children with the common cold

    Posted 11-05-2021 12:19 AM
    I spoke with our local licensing agent, she said that ANY cold or flu like symptoms mean the child is excluded/sent home until they have a medical verification that the symptoms are NOT COVID related. Runny nose, cough, sneezing, etc.... all mean the child is sent home until cold vs. flu vs. COVID vs. other (allergy, sinus infection, etc.) is confirmed by a medical professional. Licensing also clarified that "with fever" is not the end all be all criteria. So if a child has a cough but no fever they can still be excluded. My center has found this difficult to enforce because it would often mean half of the children would be excluded.


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    Sarah Quest
    Long Beach CA
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  • 4.  RE: Excluding children with the common cold

    Posted 11-05-2021 01:13 AM
    Thank you for your responses, the enforcement piece is hard for us too.  However, the spreading back and forth and now my teachers are getting sick too.  Yes, a good chunk of the class is excluded, but I don't know what else to do?  Some parents are claiming their child will have a runny nose all winter and they simply cannot be excluded!  This is so hard, with Covid on top of everything!  Anyone else?

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    Shonna Clark
    Director
    Altadena Children's Center
    Altadena CA
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  • 5.  RE: Excluding children with the common cold

    Posted 11-05-2021 09:10 AM
    This is truly a difficult position to be in for both parties; however, I understand where the parents are coming from! If my grandson was sent home because of a runny nose, he would never be able to attend school or care. He has allergies and sees a doctor regularly. It has been difficult to find a medication that helps him for very long before it stops working. He lives with a runny nose most of the time from fall until spring.

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    Alise Baldwin
    Business Administrator
    City Life Kidlife Club
    Newport News VA
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  • 6.  RE: Excluding children with the common cold

    Posted 11-06-2021 12:44 AM
    Hello everyone,
    I can only imagine how difficult the exclusion piece is, as it has always been a challenge; however, with Covid, it appears we have lost all rational thinking of anyone having an illness that is not covid related. My youngest son is in high school, and he has severe acid reflux and has; from a young age, his symptoms have returned due to the stress of the current situation, and every time he has to go home, I have to fill out a paper and get a PCR test clearing him from Covid. There has to be a balance in handling these situations to keep our children safe and continue providing the needed services to families.


     Which causes him to vomit at times after meals. I have

           Linda Haddadin
    B.S. Child Development & Adolescent Studies
          





  • 7.  RE: Excluding children with the common cold

    Posted 11-05-2021 02:37 PM
    This is very hard to work with because some children have allergies and do have runny noses for long periods of time. I refer families to get their child checked out by a pediatrician. The runny nose can lead to swollen tonsils and adenoids and followed by a middle ear infection. Pediatrician's can also work with the families to find over the counter medications that can help dry the nose so they do not run as much. 
    During cold and flu season I send out messages about how important it is to keep their children home when they are showing symptoms like runny nose and coughs. That we all depend on each other to keep the children healthy . We recognize that work pressures are often a problem, so we also encourage families to create a backup plan for mild illness recovery. 
    As a courtesy, I will call the parents ahead of time and say we are watching their child carefully for further symptom development, so they may want to try and schedule a doctor visit to have their child checked out. That way they know ahead of time the child is not feeling well and we will be calling for a pick up if their symptoms do not improve or get worse.
    Since the pandemic began, the pediatricians are regularly testing the children for COVID, strep throat and flu and send a note back with instructions on when the child the can return to group care on a certain date.
    We also send children home if they do not feel well and are lethargic. They may not have any solid symptoms of an infection--diarrhea, runny nose, cough, rash or a fever but if they are so low energy that they do not want to get up and participate in the day's activities they need to go home to rest.

    Chris Webster
    May Children's Center at Brazosport College
    Lake Jackson, TX

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    Christine Webster
    Director
    Brazosport College Children's Center
    LAKE JACKSON TX
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  • 8.  RE: Excluding children with the common cold

    Posted 11-05-2021 02:46 PM
    Thanks so much Christine, I think you're right in that it is a subject that needs education, if parent understood that they need to actively treat their children's ongoing symptoms, we might be in a better position.  Also, the masks make it so difficult!  They are germie, wet cloths hanging off their faces, having to be changed often and hand washing increased etc.  What a nightmare this has been!

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    Shonna Clark
    Director
    Altadena Children's Center
    Altadena CA
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  • 9.  RE: Excluding children with the common cold

    Posted 11-06-2021 02:02 PM
    Hi
    I work in a school district setting and if a child has allergies, acid reflux, asthma or any other ongoing conditions that are in the covid protocol we ask them to get a report from their pediatrician stating the child has allergies or whatever that cause these symptoms.  Then we don't have to send them home for covid testing when those symptoms appear.  Of course if they have other indications of illness- fever, lethargy, glassy eyes etc.  then they can be sent home.

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    Julia Capper
    ECSE teacher
    San Diego Unified School Distric
    San Diego CA
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  • 10.  RE: Excluding children with the common cold

    Posted 11-07-2021 09:08 AM
    Hi Everyone 

    I am in Califronia ( Alameda County ) and we follow the same protocols as Julia mentioned. Ofcourse, depending on the state and guidelines the recommendations may differ but it does make sense to have a doctor's note exempting a child from quaratine if he/she has a recurring baseline condition. 


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    Amina Saiyed
    Tracy CA
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