Infectious Disease  Procedures 

Infectious Diseases 

Any employee or volunteer with the potential for occupational exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials is at risk for transmission of blood-borne pathogens, which may lead to disease.  In accordance with the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogen standard, the following Infectious Disease Control Plan has been developed.

 Exposure Determination

In the following job classifications, employees may come into contact with blood or other potentially infectious bodily fluids: 

1.       Early Childhood Teaching Staff and School-Age Group Workers: The duties of these employees require them to render physical care and clean up after incontinent acts, vomiting, and/or injuries producing blood.

2.       Facilities Staff:  The duties of these employees require them to clean up and dispose of waste, and fix and maintain areas that may be contaminated with blood or other potentially infectious materials.

3.       All other staff in the provision of first aid or CPR.

In the following procedures performed during the course of the program day, occupational exposure may occur.

  The daily health check.

·       Care of wounds.

·       Clean up of body fluids such as emesis, feces, urine, or blood.

·       Disposal of waste.

·       First aid.        

           (This list does not exhaust all tasks which may result in the potential for exposure.)

Contaminated means the presence or the reasonably anticipated presence of blood or other potentially infectious materials on an item or surface. The blood or other potentially infectious materials may be liquid, semi-liquid, or dried.  

 Protective Equipment

Employees of Gads Hill Center or our Head Start partners are expected to minimize the risk of infectious disease exposure by using appropriate personal protective equipment when performing first aid or cleaning potentially infectious materials, such as blood or urine. Protective equipment, such as gloves and CPR face shields, are provided and readily available on-site.

 Personal protective equipment will be considered appropriate only if it does not permit blood or other potentially infectious materials to pass through or reach the employee's clothing, skin, eyes, mouth, or other mucous membranes under normal conditions of use and for the duration of time which the protective equipment will be used.  

Gloves shall be worn when it can reasonably be anticipated that the employee may have hand contact with blood, other infectious materials, open wounds or sores, mucous membranes, or non-intact skin, either when performing procedures or touching contaminated areas.  An adequate supply of gloves shall be provided for all classrooms and throughout each site at all times.

 Disposable gloves used at the agency should not be washed or decontaminated for re-use.  They are to be replaced as soon as practical when they become contaminated, torn, or punctured, or their function as a barrier becomes compromised.

 A face shield with a one-way valve should be used to prevent disease transmission when administering CPR. These face shields will be provisioned to all classrooms as a first aid kit component. As a precaution, all accident responders should wear protective gloves.

Illness Exclusion

To assure the health and safety of children enrolled in our programs, the following policy has been developed to determine when a child must be excluded from the program and when they may safely return.

Mild illness is common among children. Most children will not need to be excluded from a program for mild respiratory tract illnesses because transmission is likely to have occurred before symptoms developed in the child or is a result of contact with children with asymptomatic infection. We will use best hygiene practices in our programs to reduce the chance of illness.

Excluding sick children (and adults) from our program will occur if the exclusion could reduce the likelihood of spreading the illness.  Parents should disclose all symptoms and illnesses that their children may have. Reporting of children with certain diseases and conditions is mandated by CDPH, and any unusual outbreaks of other illnesses involving the children or adults in a program.  A full copy of this list is available from your family support specialist.

Children will be excluded from Gads Hill Center program for the following illnesses:

1.  Illness that prevents the child from participating comfortably in program activities.

2.  Illness that results in a greater need for care than the staff can provide without compromising the health and safety of other children.

3.  Any of the following conditions:  unusual tiredness, unusual irritability, unusually persistent crying, not explained by other causes; difficulty breathing, wheezing, and other manifestations of possible severe illness.

4.  Rash with a fever greater than 101°F, measured orally, or greater than100°F, measured under the arm.

5.  Diarrhea, unless a medical examination indicates that the diarrhea is not infectious.

6.  Vomiting two or more times in the previous 24 hours unless the vomiting is determined to be caused by a no-communicable condition and the child is not in danger of dehydration.

7.  Mouth sores associated with drooling unless a medical examination indicates that the condition is not infectious.

8.  Rash with fever or behavior change unless a medical examination indicates that the condition is not infectious.

9.  Purulent conjunctivitis ("pink eye" or "red eye," defined as pink or red conjunctiva with white or yellow eye discharge, often with matted eyelids after sleep and eye pain or redness of the eyelids or skin surrounding the eye), until examined by a physician and approved for readmission, 24 hours after treatment has been initiated.

10.  Tuberculosis (active) until the child's physician or local CDPH authority states that the child is noninfectious.

11.  Impetigo until 24 hours after treatment has been initiated.

12.  Streptococcal pharyngitis (sore throat) until 24 hours after treatment has been initiated and until the child has been afebrile (no fever) for 24 hours.

13.  Live head lice and nits until the morning after the first treatment.  "No nit" policies are not required.

14.  Scabies until the morning after treatment has been completed.

15.  Ringworm (scalp or body) until after initiating treatment.

16.  Varicella (chicken pox) until the sixth day after the onset of rash, and at least all lesions have dried and crusted.

17.  Pertussis (whooping cough) has been completed until five days of the appropriate antibiotic therapy (to be given for 14 days).

18.  Mumps until nine days after onset of parotid gland swelling.

19.  Measles, until six days after onset of rash.

20.  Hepatitis A virus infection until one week after onset of illness or jaundice (if symptoms are mild).

21.  COVID-19, Fever (above 99.6° F), Cough, Trouble breathing, Loss of taste & smell, Nausea, Sore throat, Headache, Runny nose, Vomiting, and Diarrhea.

A note from a medical provider is required for re-admittance following all absences of five days or more.  Program staff will require a note from a medical provider for any child whose health or disease communicability is in question.