Health Services » Communicable Disease

Communicable Disease

Communicable Diseases/Conditions
 
To protect children from contagious illnesses, students infected with certain diseases are not allowed to come to school while contagious.Parents of a student with a communicable or contagious disease should phone the school nurse or principal. These diseases include but are not limited to:
 
Amebiasis
Campylobacteriosis
Chicken Pox
Common cold with fever
Conjunctivitis, bacterial or viral
Covid-19 with fever
Coxsackie virus with fever
Cryptosporidiosis
E. coli
Fever greater than 100.0 Fifth Disease with fever Gastroenteritis, viral
Giardiasis Hepatitis A   Impetigo
Influenza    
Measles (rubeola)
Meningitis, bacterial
Meningitis, viral with fever
Meningococcal infections Mononucleosis, infectious Mumps
Otitis media (earache) with fever Pertussis (whooping cough) Pharyngitits (sore throat with fever)
Ringworm of the scalp Rubella (German measles) Salmonellosis
Scabies
  Shigellosis
Shingles
Streptococcal sore throat
Scarlet fever
Tuberculosis
Typhoid Fever
 
 
 
Additional information about communicable diseases can be found at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | CDC and School Communicable Disease Chart | Texas DSHS 
 
Bacterial Meningitis
 
State law requires the District to provide the following information:
 
What Is Meningitis?
 
Meningitis is an inflammation of the covering of the brain and spinal cord. It can be caused by viruses, parasites, fungi, and bacteria. Viral meningitis is the most common and the least serious. Bacterial meningitis is the most common form of serious bacterial infection with the potential for serious, long-term complications. It is an uncommon disease, but requires urgent treatment with antibiotics to prevent permanent damage or death.
 
 
What Are The Symptoms?
 
Someone with meningitis will become very ill. The illness may develop over one or two days, but it can also rapidly progress in a matter of hours. Not everyone with meningitis will have the same symptoms.
Children (over one year old) and adults with meningitis may have a severe headache, high temperature, vomiting, sensitivity to bright lights, neck stiffness or joint pains, and drowsiness or confusion. In both children and adults, there may be a rash of tiny, red-purple spots. These can occur anywhere on the body. The diagnosis of bacterial meningitis is based on a combination of symptoms and laboratory results.
 
 
How Serious Is Bacterial Meningitis?
 
If it is diagnosed early and treated promptly, the majority of people make a complete recovery. In some cases it can be fatal or a person may be left with a permanent disability.
 
 
How Is Bacterial Meningitis Spread?
 
Fortunately, none of the bacteria that cause meningitis are as contagious as diseases like the common cold or the flu, and they are not spread by casual contact or by simply breathing the air where a person with meningitis has been. The germs live naturally in the back of our noses and throats, but they do not live for long outside the body. They are spread when people exchange saliva (such as by kissing, sharing drinking containers, utensils, or cigarettes).
The germ does not cause meningitis in most people. Instead, most people become carriers of the germ for days, weeks, or even months. The bacteria rarely overcome the body’s immune system and cause meningitis or another serious illness.
 
 
How Can Bacterial Meningitis Be Prevented?
 
Do not share food, drinks, utensils, toothbrushes, or cigarettes. Limit the number of persons you kiss. While there are vaccines for some other strains of bacterial meningitis, they are used only in special circumstances. These include when there is a disease outbreak in a community or for people traveling to a country where there is a high risk of getting the disease. Also, a vaccine is recommended by some groups for college students, particularly freshmen living in dorms or residence halls. The vaccine is safe and effective (85-90 percent). It can cause mild side effects, such as redness and pain at the injection site lasting up to two days. Immunity develops within seven to ten days after the vaccine is given and lasts for up to five years.
 
 
What Should You Do If You Think You Or A Friend Might Have Bacterial Meningitis?
 
You should seek prompt medical attention.
 
Where Can You Get More Information?
 
Your school nurse, family doctor, and the staff at your local or regional health department office are excellent sources for information on all communicable diseases. You may also call your local health department or Regional Texas Department of Health office to ask about meningococcal vaccine. Additional information may also be found at the web sites for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, About Bacterial Meningitis | Meningitis | CDC and the Texas Department of Health, Meningitis | Texas DSHS.