Kindertown Child Care Centre

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Winter is Coming: A Quick Guide to the Common Cold and Other Child Illness

We pride ourselves on keeping each of our Kindertown classrooms clean and spotless, however, the spread of icky germs is almost always bound to happen. Beyond our daily and weekly scrub-downs, Kindertown also has a health and wellness policy in place that asks parents to keep children with any type of symptoms at home for at least twenty-four hours.

 Here is a list of some common illnesses and symptoms to help you catch that darn cold before it catches you or your child!

 Chicken Pox

  • Begins with a fever, aches and pains

  • Children should stay home for at least 5 days after the rash appears

  • Contagious from 1 to 2 days before rash appears, and most infectious from 12 to 24 hours before the rash appears

Hand Foot and Mouth

  • Begins with a fever, skin rash, mouth ulcers and vomiting/diarrhea

  • Spread through contact with an infected persons saliva or stool

  • Handwashing is best prevention

  • No treatment for this infection, can last between 7 and 10 days

Head Lice

  • Head lice do not spread, and does not mean a scalp is unclean

  • They spread through direct hair-to-hair contact, possible by sharing hats and hairbrushes

  • This usually begins with an itchy scale, but the scalp must be checked periodically to make sure

  • There are a variety of ways to treat head lice, consult a doctor for the best solution

Slight colds with nasal secretions

  • Begins with runny or stuffed up nose, coughing and fatigue

  • Can spread from both direct and indirect contact with infected person or through the air

  • Colds usually last about 1 week, but can linger for as long as 2 weeks

Pink-Eye

  • Usually begins with a ‘scratchy feeling’, lots of tearing, discharge and a pink eye

  • It spreads through direct contact of discharge, or indirect contact with an item that has touched the infected eye

  • Cleanliness is imperative to prevent pink eye, but if infected best to consult a doctor for antibiotic eye drops

Slapped Cheek Syndrome

  • Begins with mild-cold symptoms and after 1-4 days a red rash on cheeks, torso, arms and rest of body

  • It spreads in the same way that a cold virus spreads

  • Though highly contagious in the first stages, once the rash appears, it can no longer spread.

  • Best prevention are clean hands, there are no vaccine to prevent the illness

Roseola

  • Most common between 6 months and 2 years of age, it usually occurs when someone comes into contact with an infected person’s saliva or runny nose. It is also possible to be affected through the air.

  • Roseola usually begins as a high fever that last between 3-5 days, once the fever ends, small pinkish red spots develop over your child’s face and body. Though not itchy, it can last up to 2 days.

Diarrhea

  • Diarrhea usually lasts less than one week, and no longer than 2

  • This spreads from child to child, and usually amongst children whom have yet to learn how to use the toilet

  • The most common causes of diarrhea are viral infections, which can be prevented with proper hand washing and safe food handling