| Disease | Incubation Period (time between infection and illness) |
Description |
| Chicken Pox | 13-17 days | Signs & Symptoms Groups of small raised rose-pink spots may appear one after the other on the scalp, face, arms, legs and inside the mouth. Spots are followed by small blisters which then form crusts Exclusion from School For at least 5 days after the first spots appear, or when blisters have all crusted. |
| Conjunctivitis (Viral & Bacterial) | 1 - 3 days | Signs & Symptoms Red, watery eyes - may be painful. Eyelids may stick together. Exclusion from School See your family doctor Keep child at home until discharge from eyes has stopped. It is not necessary to keep contacts at home. |
| Diarrhoea (Gastroenteritis) | Variable up to 72 hours | Signs & Symptoms Loose, frequent bowel motions sometimes with stomach pain, often with vomiting, Exclusion from School Give child plenty of drinks. Only some are suitable, and most must he diluted. Ask a health professional for more information. Keep child at home until diarrhoea has stopped. If severe, see your family doctor, particularly if the child is passing less urine. |
| Scabies
|
Days to weeks | Signs & Symptoms Severe itchiness fur days or weeks, becoming worse at night. Tiny mites Burrow under the skin, usually in warm parts of the body such as wrists, armpits, buttocks, the groin, around the genitals and between the fingers und toes. Scratching may cause pus-filled sores like impetigo. Spreads quickly from person to person by close contact. Exclusion from School Keep your child home until you have seen a pharmacist and begun suitable treatment. Notify the school. You do not need to keep other children at home, but you should inspect them regularly for signs of scabies. |
| Slapped Cheek Syndrome (Fifth disease) | 1 to 2 weeks | Signs & Symptoms Red cheeks with an itchy lace-like rash on the body and limbs. Exclusion from School It is not necessary to keep child or contact at home. |
| TB (Tuberculosis) | Variable | Signs & Symptoms Slow onset. Child feels generally unwell, Fever (high temperature) particularly m evening, with sweating at night. May start with a dry cough, which becomes a persistent, moist cough. Exclusion from School A doctor should see Child. |
|
Whooping Cough (Pertussis) |
6 to 20 days | Signs & Symptoms Starts as a short dry cough, which becomes more severe. Characteristic whoop follows a series of rapid short coughs, as child attempts to draw breath. Child may vomit or go red or blue in the face at the end of each bout of coughing. Exclusion from School Child should be kept home for 14 days from the start of illness, or until they have had 5 days of a 10 day course of antibiotics. |
| Influenza
|
1 to 3 days | Signs & Symptoms Rapid onset of fever (high temperature), headache, muscle pains, runny nose, sore throat and cough. Exclusion from School For 5 days after the appearance of the first symptoms. |
| Measles |
7 to 18 days (average 10 days) | Signs & Symptoms Fever (high temperature), cough, runny nose, and red watery eyes. A rash appears 3 to 7 days after early symptoms. Exclusion from School For 4 days after appearance of rash. |
| Meningitis | 2 to 10 days | Signs Symptoms Sudden onset of fever (high temperature), headache, nausea, vomiting and tiredness, may indicate that the child has meningitis. Some children also develop purple or pink spots. Exclusion from School Child should be seen by a doctor Immediately. |
| Mumps
|
12 to 25 days (average 18 days) | Signs & Symptoms Pain or soreness in jaw and neck area. Swelling and tenderness start just below, and in font of, one or both ears. There may also be fever (high temperature), headache and loss of appetite. Exclusion from School For at least 9 days after the appearance of the swelling |
| Ringworm | 4 to 14 days | Signs & Symptoms Can occur on the scalp or the skin. If on the scalp, begins as a small bald scaly patch. The hairs in the affected area break off, leaving only the stumps or fall out. Ringworm of the skin is a spreading small scaly patch with a faint pink ring around the edge. Inflammation with crusting is quite common. Exclusion from School Keep your child home until you have seen your pharmacist and begun treatment. Notify the school. It is not necessary to keep contacts at home, but you should inspect them regularly for signs of ringworm. |
| Hepatitis A (infectious Hepatitis)
|
15 50 days (average 28 30 days) | Signs & Symptoms Onset is usually sudden, with fever (high temperature), loss of appetite, nausea and possible jaundice (yellowing of the eyes and skin). Urine may become dark and bowel motions pale. Exclusion from School Until child has recovered (usually 7 days from the first signs of jaundice). |
| Hepatitis B (infectious Hepatitis) | 6 weeks 6 months (average 2 3 months) | Signs & Symptoms Onset is slow with loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting and often jaundice (yellowing of the eyes and skin). Urine may become dark and bowel motions pale. Exclusion from School It is not necessary to keep your child home, but some children with Hepatitis B are too sick to attend school. |
| HIV
(Human
Immuno-deficiency Virus)
|
Seroconversion (when a person becomes HIV antibody positive) is usually 1 to 3 months after infection. The time from seroconversion to illness (AIDS) is highly variable and may be more than 10 years, though most infected children have symptoms much earlier than this. | Signs & Symptoms Once the AIDS virus begins to affect the immune system, the person may have swollen lymph glands. Later, one or more of a range of infectious diseases such pneumonia, thrush, diarrhoeal disease or TB, or cancers, such as lymphoma, may develop. Exclusion from School It is not necessary to keep your child home (unless she or he has a secondary infectious disease, such as TB). |
| Impetigo | Variable commonly 1 to 10 days | Signs & Symptoms Flat, yellow, crusting or moist patch on the skin. When a scab falls off, a temporary scar remains. Tenderness and swelling of the lymph nodes in the groin, armpit or neck may occur. Exclusion from School See your family doctor. If the sores are being treated and are properly covered by a clean dressing, children are allowed to attend school. It is not necessary to keep contacts at home. |
| German Measles (Rubella) | 14 to 23 days (average 16 18 days) | Signs & Symptoms Usually begins with swollen lymph nodes, headache, slight sore throat, runny nose and a slight fever (high temperature). Small pink spots are seen first on face, rapidly spreading over arms and body, and to a lesser extent, the legs. The rash usually lasts only a short time. Exclusion from School Until child has fully recovered, or for at least 4 days after the rash appears. |
| Glandular Fever
(Infectious Mononucleosis)
|
4 to 6 weeks | Signs & Symptoms Fever, headache, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes and spleen, mental and physical fatigue. Exclusion from School It is not necessary to keep your child home, but some children with glandular fever are too sick to attend school. |
| Hand, Foot and Mouth disease | 3 to 5 days | Signs & Symptoms Blisters in the mouth and on the palms, fingers and soles of feet. May have low fever and loss of appetite. Exclusion from School Wash hands after toileting. It is not necessary to keep child at home. |
| Head Lice (Pediculosis) | Nits of lice usually hatch in a week and reach sexual maturity in about 2 weeks. | Signs & Symptoms The scalp itches. Lice and nits are found on the hair, especially behind the ears and at the back of the neck. Scratches may become infected, and swelling of the neck glands may occur. Nits look like tiny white specks stuck to the base of the hair shaft. Exclusion from School Treatment can be carried out that night, and the child can return to school the next day. You can buy an appropriate solution from your pharmacist you dont need a prescription. Everyone living in the same house should be treated at the same time you are treating the affected person. Notify the school. |
