Hi mama's Im a little P.O'd at the moment! I work at a daycare and have two children who go there as well. There has been a very sick child the past week and came back today and told my bosses/the provider that their son has hand foot and mouth. They said he COULD STAY!!!! I'm very torn on this and so are all the other teachers. Whats really sad is they tried to hide it from us saying we would over react when the boy has it and is super contagious. I really need some advice mama's... what would you do?
Oh and I see the fever thing... my bosses refuse to send a kid home with a fever! They tell us just to give them juice and water!
So I am going to have a talk with my bosses, I dont think I would have gotten so mad if they were not having so many other problems. I am having parents come to me and complain about what they have been doing. It's regardless time for a new job/daycare! If it wasnt such a big problem then they shouldnt have hid it from us to begin with!
My grandsons daycare hide from employees and parents that the cook had hepetitus...but it leaked from one of the teachers to my daughter.
From what I understand this disease can spread like wild fire. People have even died from it if there are complications. I'd put a stop to it anyway you have to. Is the daycare so afraid of losing one they'd do this, they're willing to put everyone under this kind stress for one child. The parents will have to find another solution. I hope he'll be fine and that everyone there will be fine.
your local health department currently has no full time nurse so call the regional office in temple ###-###-#### you can report anonymously...but report! this is neglect and a public health issue....im afraid my job would go before i placed children in harms way.... and if they fire u collect unemployment on their behalf! let me know if u need anything further ____@____.com
its not a reportable disease but their policies need to be inspected and investigated....
Well yes! Over react all damn day! That's a very contagious virus that can be miserable and I woulnt knowingly put that on anyone! Talk to who ever you need to because its your duty to protect the other little ones. Good luck mama.
I believe this is a virus that requires exclusion. Your boss may be completely out of bounds in allowing the children to stay because it is extremely contagious. In fact, every article in the children's area needs to be sanitized with bleach water or otherwise sterilized.
Find out the exclusion laws in your area. Every cdc I worked in would have sent the child home immediately and he would have to be symptom-free for at least twenty-four hours. I am so sorry for you, as well as the other parents whose children are now exposed. Imagine the lost wages if the other kids get sick.
I would get online right now, find out the rules and regs for daycares and give your director or boss a copy. How are they going to cover for staff that gets sick and miss work? I'd be furious.
and I forgot to add: it is the law here in Oregon that parents must be notified that their children have been exposed to this sort of a virus. You should put a note on the door of the classroom you work in. The safety of the children should be the most important concern of the daycare and parents need to know. Imagine your child having symptoms and not knowing what it might be.
Talk to your boss! That's crazy. Isn't that against licensing regulations???
I would definitely talk to your bosses. Of course you would be upset! Its contagious for goodness sake! Do they want all of the children to be sick? I am sure that the other parents would be pretty upset about it too if they found out. Which they should anyways, because I would want to know if my child was around it. So I could find other arrangements for him in the meantime.
Thats not something to be taken lightly by your bosses. Shame on them!
Report it to the health department and let them deal with it.
The school needs to be reported, do so anonymously. I would also make sure all the parents know what to watch for since this is very easy to pass around.
Our preschool is just having a bout of HFMD. Kids are allowed in school once the fever subsides, as soon as the fever is gone they are no longer contagious ( the rash itself is not contagious).
By the time gets have symptoms, they have already been contagious for a while... that's why it spreads so easily. Kids will spread it BEFORE you know they have it.
Honestly I don't think it's a big deal. Maybe you can give your pediatrician a call if you are still concerned...
As long as the fever is gone there's no reason to keep them home.
When we had HFMD we never had a fever it was so mild.
If it wasn't for a few blisters on his feet I never would have known he had anything going on.
I do agree it is super contagious and as a parent of a 3 year old who just had it I can say it is not much fun. I do know that a co-worker's grandchild just was diagnosed with it and the pediatrician said he could still go to daycare and even wrote a doctor's note to say so. I don't understand why the child would be allowed to return and spread this highly contagious virus to all the other children. I know if I was a parent of a child in a daycare that allowed this I would definitely voice my opposition.
Edited to Add: My son caught HFMD at the park. I know this for a fact because he doesn't go to daycare and we were no where else or around anyone else. There were no children playing with him when we were there so the pesky germs were hanging out on the playground equipment. My son's pediatrician said this is a great place to catch germs.
It's not a big deal once they are getting better. If they have a fever they can't be there regardless, if no fever they are not contagious any more. Just use universal precautions all the time and wash hands a lot. That way you'll be okay.
Hand, Foot and mouth is going through my son's daycare too. My understanding is that it's a fairly harmless virus with a scary name and that they don't need to stay home unless their fever is higher than the policy allows. (And I work at the hospital and use the hospital daycare so I trust the info they give us)
But the notice was promptly put right on the notice board where all the other health notices are put.
What are the guidelines in your state for daycares and contagious diseases? Print them up and remind your bosses. If after that they don't take appropriate action, call in sick and pull your kids out. And most definitely report them to appropriate authorities if they are indeed violating codes under the law for daycares. Notify parents and have them complain or pull their kids in protest.
When I worked at a daycare the children were allowed back with HFMD once they didn't have a fever, and that was according to the state guidelines. Yea it's an uncomfortable sickness but in the grand scheme of things I saw way worse stuff being passed around from kid to kid. Keep your room clean, wash your hands and all will be well.
A., I don't think your daycare facility sounds like they are handling this situation very well, HOWEVER, they are within their rights according to Texas law. HFMD is not considered a communicable or notifiable disease according to the Texas Dept of Health. In order to require a child to be excluded from school, HFMD would have to be part of Texas Administrative Code and it is not. The Texas DFPS also has other regulations that come into play, as well, regarding general illness. Unless the child has a fever greater than 101, however, according to Texas Law, the child cannot be excluded. My guess is the child was probably sick for a couple of days and then came back to school once he was fever-free. The daycare is well within their rights, if that is the case.
THere is no requirement to keep Hand, Foot and Mouth disease home once the fever that accompanies it is gone. When I was working day care, this happened in my classroom, and while I wasn't happy that the kids could come., we took extra precautions and made extra sure everything was clean and sanitized when we left for the day.
I know I'm late, but I had to chime in here. As a former daycare worker I am familiar with the TX State Minimum standars for daycare:
http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/child_care/child_care_standar...
Under the section for illness it specifically states:
Unless you are licensed to provide get-well care, you must not admit an ill child for care if one or more of the following exists
then it lists the temperature guidelines and then this:
A health-care professional has diagnosed the child with a communicable disease, and the child does not have medical documentation to indicate that the child is no longer contagious.
Since hand foot and mouth is a communicable disease your director must not admit the child until they are no longer contagious. So you have the law to back you up. If anyone filed a complaint with DFPS your boss could be fined or have her license pulled. Complaints are also listed on the DFPS web site for potential customers to read.
Hope your boss is receptive, good for you for putting your foot down on this! When I worked in daycare I was a stickler for the standards!!
Also just to add according to this document hand foot and mouth is considered communicable:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=hand%20foo...
