5.3.06
Daily Health Check
Upon arrival at the center, each child is greeted and staff performs a brief assessment of his/her physical well-being. Staff should observe for:
- Change in behavior and activity level
- Skin color (flushed, pale, warm, presence of fever 100.4 or above)
- Unusual spots or rashes
- Swelling or bruises
- Open sores
- Severe coughing or sneezing
- Foul discharge from nose, eyes, and ears
- Difficulty breathing
- Presence of head lice
Staff should consult the Health Manual Communicable Disease Policies for management of any unusual symptoms. A hard copy of the health manual is available at each center.
Class Alerts
Class Alerts are used to alert the parent/guardian of a possible communicable disease within their child’s classroom. The Education Staff/Social Service Staff completes the corresponding alert when a child is diagnosed with a communicable disease by their health provider.
Complete the center and date and provide a copy to each parent/guardian. Please verify that the child has been diagnosed before sending out the letter.
Class Alert forms:
- Symptoms or Suspected Illness – English
- Chicken Pox – English | Spanish
- Conjunctivitis (Pink Eye) – English | Spanish
- COVID-19 – English | Spanish
- Fifth Disease – English | Spanish
- Hand-Food-and-Mouth-Disease – English | Spanish
- Head Lice – English |Spanish
- Pinworms – English | Spanish
- Roseola – English | Spanish
- RSV – English | Spanish
- Scabies – English | Spanish
- Scarlet Fever – English | Spanish
- Strep Throat – English | Spanish
Daily Head Lice Checks
Head Start will conduct a daily head lice check on all children to determine the presence of adult lice or nits within ½” of the scalp. Shasta Head Start has a “No Adult Lice” policy.
Procedure: Upon arriving at the center, all children will be checked by a member of the Classroom staff for head lice and nits within ½” of the scalp. The teacher will wear gloves and use individual sticks to lift hair strands, discarding the stick after each child. Head lice are about the size of a sesame seed, usually brown and will move quickly away from the light.
If live lice or nits within ½” of the scalp are seen, parents will be notified. The child will be excluded until the problem is resolved. If there is concern of live lice exposure in the classroom, any articles that were in contact with the head of the infested individual should be laundered and dried on hot setting. Articles that cannot be laundered (helmets) should be placed in plastic bags and put away for 2 days. Floors, carpets, and furniture should be vacuumed.
When treatment is completed and all adult lice and nits within ½” of the scalp have been removed, the parent must bring the child back to the center where a daily health check will be performed and determine if the child can resume the program and bus privileges.
See the Health Manual Communicable Disease Policies – Procedures for Handling Communicable Diseases – Head Lice section (see below) regarding head lice for further information, including how to clean the classroom, linens, toys, etc.
Head Lice
Definition: Head Lice are tiny insects that live on the head and scalp. Head lice do not live on other parts of the body, nor do they live on animals. The adult lice hatch from small eggs (called nits) which are attached firmly to the person’s hair shaft. Adult lice live off human blood that they get from biting the scalp. They survive less than 24 hours off of the human head. Nits must be close to the scalp for warmth to remain alive. Nits more than ½” from the scalp are not alive therefore will not hatch.
Signs/symptoms: The major symptom is itching caused by the bite of the louse.
This itching can cause persistent scratching of the head and back of the neck. Diagnosis is made by finding the adult live lice or tiny nits on the hair shaft, near the scalp.
Initial management: Daily head checks will identify children with nits or live bugs.
Exclusion/re-admission: Children with live adult lice or nits within ½” of the scalp will be excluded until the child is “lice-free” and has no nits within ½” of the scalp.
Children must be brought to school for a head check prior to being allowed on the bus.
Additional information: Parents can purchase over-the-counter medicated shampoo or rinse to kill the lice. Please advise them to follow the directions carefully as these products are powerful insecticides and can be toxic if not used as recommended. The nits within ½” of the scalp must be removed. Parents should wash all clothes and bedding in hot water. Carpets and furniture should be vacuumed. Other family members should be checked and treated if found to be infested.
Complete the Notice of Exposure to Contagious Condition: Head Lice form (English and Spanish available)
References
- Communicable Disease Policies
- Notice of Exposure to Contagious Condition: Head Lice – English | Spanish
- Caring for our Children: 3.1.1 Daily Health Check
- California Childcare Health Program: Survival Tip Posters
- Head Lice: A Common Problem – English | Spanish
- Poster: “Morning Health Check” – English | Spanish
- “Keep Me Home if…”
- Shasta Head Start COVID-19 Mitigation Policy
- Reportable Diseases