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IS
YOUR CHILD TOO SICK FOR SCHOOL?
When
should you let your child stay home?
ALLERGIES and ASTHMA
- Allergic disease is
a leading cause of missed school days for children. Allergic symptoms
affect a child's concentration level, energy and sleep-patterns.
- Without proper
treatment, allergies not only bring about discomfort to the sufferer,
they can make life difficult for families, friends, teachers and
parents.
- The most common
allergic diseases and conditions include rhinitis; asthma; atopic
dermatitis; rhino sinusitis; chronic or recurrent otitis media; conjunctivitis;
urticaria and angioedema; contact dermatitis; and drug, food, insect
sting, latex, and anaphylactic and anaphylactoid reactions.
- Together, these
illnesses account for a large number of learning difficulties and even
behavioral problems as well as school absenteeism.
Food Allergies:
Reactions to food are common. These reactions range from mild to severe, and
may result from the body's negative response to certain foods or from a true
food allergy. Any food can cause an allergic reaction, but only eight foods
cause nine out of ten reactions. They are milk, soy, eggs, wheat, peanuts,
tree nuts, fish and shellfish.
from schoolasthma.com
If your child has any food allergies please
share that information with the school nurse and school staff. The school has
a lunch program but is unable to prepare special meals. If a child is unable
to consume a regular diet, the parent is responsible to provide for the
child's needs and for educating the child about what the child may and may
not eat.
The school
staff should be made aware of asthma or any allergies your child has., most
especially, any life-threatening allergies. Please advise us of the
asthma/allergy symptoms your child experiences and the treatment protocol
being used.
Prescription medication, ordered by your health care provider to treat or
prevent asthma/allergy symptoms, should be available for the child at school.
Click here for medication in school information. Please provide the
school nurse with the asthma/allergy information and what ever is needed to
assure the child's health, safety, and comfort during the school day so that
unnecessary school time will not be missed. The school nurse will prepare an
individual asthma/allergy health care plan for the child.
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AUTO SAFETY
Rules
for the Car and School Bus .............................................. from KidsHealth.org
Most children spend time in a car or on a school bus every day. School-age
children can be taught simple rules for the car and school bus that will
ensure their safety and provide the groundwork for a lifetime of safe,
responsible travel.
Be sure to explain to your child that these rules must be followed every
time, no matter who is driving or how short the ride may be.
Rules for the Car
- Wear your seat
belt from beginning to end. A seat belt must be worn during every
car trip. It should be fastened before the car is even in motion, and
should be left on until the end of the trip.
- Use all seat belts.
Most cars have lap and shoulder belts that buckle as a unit, but some
have two separate belts, one lap and one shoulder. Some have a lap belt
only. Teach your child to look for and secure every belt.
- Never share seat
belts. It may seem like fun, but two kids should never buckle up as a
pair.
- Sit in the back
seat. Kids younger than age 12 should always ride in the back seat. This
protects them from possible injury when a passenger-side air bag
deploys. Explain that air bags could seriously hurt a small child
because they are designed to protect a person with a much bigger body.
- Play it cool. Kids
should understand the importance of staying calm and low-key in the back
seat. If they are jumping around or yelling, it can distract the driver
and put all the passengers at risk.
- Follow the rules in
every car. Kids need to follow the rules if they are in a friend's or
relative's car, even if other passengers don't follow the rules. If your
child is asked to sit in the front seat of someone else's car, she
should politely decline the offer and tell the driver that she would
prefer to sit in the back seat.
Rules for the Bus
- Wait for the bus
away from the street. Kids should get in a line that starts about six
feet from the curb and goes away from the street rather than down the
side.
- Wait for the OK.
Children must wait until the bus driver opens the door and says that
it's OK to step on. They should not step into the road even a moment
sooner.
- Be careful getting
on the bus. This is important for older kids who may carry book bags and
backpacks that can get caught in a door or around a seat.
- Wear seat belts
when available. Some school buses are outfitted with seat belts. They
should be buckled before the bus leaves and left on until the bus arrives
at its destination.
- Play it cool. Make
sure kids understand the importance of staying in their seats while the
bus is moving. Running or climbing around the bus can distract the
driver and be dangerous to other kids.
- Be careful getting
off the bus. When exiting the bus, kids should hold onto the handrail
and step down slowly.
- Stay in front. When
children get off the bus, they must walk in front of it, never behind
it. When they walk in front of the bus, they should walk on the sidewalk
next to the bus for at least ten feet, make sure the bus driver
acknowledges them, and then cross the street.
- Don't disappear. If
a child drops something as she is crossing in front of a bus, she should
never bend over to pick it up. This makes her invisible to the driver.
Instead, she should tell the bus driver that she dropped something.
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BACKPACK SAFETY
Carrying
too heavy a load in a backpack can cause low back pain. Many children are
carrying more weight in their backpacks than they need to be or should be. It
is recommended that children only carry 10 - 15% of their body weight and
certainly never more than 20% of their body weight. For example, a child
weighing 50 pounds should carry only 5 - 7 pounds. A child weighing 100
pounds should carry only 10 - 15 pounds.
When worn properly, both shoulder straps are used and the weight is balanced
high on the back.
BREAKFAST
We do not have a breakfast program at Brigantine North Middle School. Lunch
is available at the school, but not breakfast. Breakfast is very important,
especially for growing children. Concentration and learning are dependent on
good nutrition, so please see that your child eats a sufficient breakfast
each day before leaving for school.
CONJUNCTIVITIS (say: con-junk-tiv-i-tis)
is the most common eye problem kids can have. It causes redness, itching,
inflammation or swelling, and a white, yellow, or greenish gooey liquid to
collect in the eyes. Many people know the more common name for
conjunctivitis, which is pinkeye. The word pinkeye is used because the white part
of the eye and eyelids becomes very red or pink when you have it. Minor cases
(caused by a virus) and severe cases (caused by bacteria) require treatment
with prescription eye drops. Children may not be in school with this
condition; they need to see a doctor and get a prescription for medication
that will clear the eyes and relieve the symptoms. Eye makeup used by someone
with conjunctivitis should be discarded and not used again.
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DIABETES
Individual
Health Care Plans are prepared by the school nurse for diabetic children. It
is necessary for the parent and child to meet with the school nurse to
participate in the preparation. Parents are expected to supply all diabetic
needs including snacks.
HEAD BUMPS
A
parent is notified by phone any time a child receives a head bump during the
school day. If there are no signs or symptoms of head injury and the parent
can not be reached by phone, a note will be sent home with the child advising
the parent of what to watch for. Observe the child carefully for the next 24
hours. If he shows any of the signs below, call your doctor immediately.
Symptoms of head injury:
·
headache
·
dizziness
·
nausea
·
brief
loss of consciousness
·
vertigo
·
light-headedness
·
ringing
in the ears
·
difficulty
concentrating
·
amnesia
·
vomiting
·
balance
problems
These symptoms
should be evaluated by your health care provider.
Many of our
students participate in school sports and athletic teams out-side of school. It's
important to be aware that athletes who take a serious blow to the head on
the field, court or mat should see a doctor immediately. They should leave
the game for the day if they lose consciousness or have persistent or delayed
symptoms, according to new concussion guidelines based on the latest
scientific research and endorsed by six major medical organizations.
According to the new guidelines, athletes whose symptoms last more than 15
minutes need to be monitored for up to a week and return to competition
gradually, based on tolerance of increasing physical demands. If their
symptoms worsen, they should head straight for the emergency room.
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INSURANCE
Accident Insurance:
The
school is not responsible for medical costs resulting from an injury
sustained in school. The Brigantine Board of Education, however, provides all
students with accident insurance for the school day (while students are in
school) with a $25,000.00 maximum coverage. This insurance is secondary to
the family/child's primary health insurance coverage and does not include any
extra-curricular or co-curricular activities.
Insurance plans providing additional insurance program options are available.
Applications for this additional insurance are given to all students at the
beginning of the school year to take home to their parents, Participation in
these additional insurance plans is optional. However, we do recommend that
parents strongly consider this low cost insurance that covers after-school
activities and gives twenty-four (24) hour protection.
Health Insurance:
Regular health care is important for children and families. If you do not
have health insurance, NJ Family Care (formerly NJ Kid Care) is available for
children and families who need health insurance. Get an application by
clicking here or call 1-800-701-0710
(multi-lingual operators available) to receive one by mail. For assistance
with the application, click here to learn where help is
available in Atlantic County.
NJ
Department of Health Division of Family Services offers health care
programs throughout the state. Including programs for Special Needs Children.
The school nurse can help you locate health care resources.
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SEIZURE and TIC DISORDERS
Individual
Health Care Plans are prepared by the school nurse for children with seizure
or tic disorders. It is necessary for the parent and child to meet with the
school nurse to participate in the preparation. Parents are expected to see
that the child receives prescription medication(s) daily as directed by the
child's health care provider and to provide the school nurse with any
medication that might be needed during the school day. Education is
provided by the school nurse and teachers for classmates of the child to
positively affect communication and awareness of the child's disorder and its
manifestations. An understanding of what epilepsy/tic disorder is and what
one can do to help the person having the seizure/tic by those who are in
daily contact with the child allows the child to function normally during
each school day and prepares those around the child to act confidently.
STREP THROAT
Strep
throat is one of the most common reasons for children to miss school. It's
also one of the most easily diagnosed and inexpensively treated childhood
illnesses -- good news for parents and pediatricians, both of whom want
children to recover quickly from illness.
Strep throat is caused by the group A streptococcus bacterium. While there
are many forms of streptococcus, group A is the one responsible for strep
throat, scarlet fever and the uncommon but very serious complication,
rheumatic fever.
Strep throat can occur at any time of year but is probably most common in
early spring. Usual symptoms are a mild to severe sore throat, noted
especially when swallowing, and a muffled or "hot potato" voice --
the child sounds as if he/she is trying to talk with a piece of hot potato in
his/her mouth.
Often the child with strep throat will have fever, 101 degrees or higher, a
headache, abdominal pain or vomiting, and sore and enlarged lymph glands in
the neck under the jaw. The tonsils are enlarged and red, sometimes with
yellow or white mucus on them. The uvula -- the little tag that hangs down
from the back of the palate -- may be red and swollen, with the back of the
palate speckled bright red. The child with strep throat usually does not have
a cough or runny nose.
Scarlet
fever is a
traditional term for a strep throat with a pink-red rash on the trunk and groin; the rash is
caused by certain strains of the bacterium. At first, a diagnosis of scarlet
fever may be frightening to parents and particularly to grandparents, who may
recall serious outbreaks of scarlet fever before antibiotics were available
in the late 1940s. Today, however, scarlet fever is treated just as easily as
strep throat.
Based on symptoms and examination alone, pediatricians and family doctors can
accurately diagnose strep infection only about 70 percent of the time, at
best. In the past, the lab test for strep was a culture of a swab of throat
mucus, with results ready in 24 to 48 hours. But for the last decade, most
offices and labs have been using a rapid strep test based on detecting RNA or
a protein antigen of the bacterium. Rapid tests take only a few minutes but
are usually performed in batches once or twice a day, to ensure consistency
and accuracy.
Penicillin is the best and most inexpensive way to treat strep throat. It is
given orally as a liquid or tablet two or three times daily for 10 days or,
occasionally, as an injection. Other antibiotics are effective for children
who can't take penicillin, but they are much more expensive and in general
offer no advantage over penicillin.
Children begin to feel much better within hours of receiving the first dose
of antibiotic. After two days of taking the antibiotic, they are not
considered contagious and can usually return to school.
Even though the child will feel fine in just a few days, it is very important
to treat strep throat for the full 10 days for which most antibiotics are prescribed.
Not only does the antibiotic kill the strep bacteria, but treatment also
prevents rheumatic fever, a rare but nonetheless very serious complication of
strep throat.
Rheumatic fever is an immunologic reaction to untreated strep throat and
other strep infections, including scarlet fever. It is associated with fever,
joint irritation and, most importantly, inflammation of the valves of the
heart. Rheumatic fever can result in severe rheumatic heart disease, which in
the past was a major source of childhood and adult heart disease. Rheumatic
heart disease may require valve replacement, among other treatments.
Ten days of penicillin prevents rheumatic fever. The use of penicillin
against strep has been one of the truly great medical success stories of the
last 50 years. Most of our children will have strep throat sometime, but
rheumatic fever, thankfully, has become a medical rarity.
from drkoop.com - Carole A. Stashwick, M.D. -
Health Columnist
If anyone in
your family is diagnosed with strep throat, have him/her throw his/her
toothbrush away 24 hours after beginning antibiotics. Strep can live on a
toothbrush and reinfect the user. Have him/her start using a new toothbrush.
A child may
return to school after taking the antibiotic for two (2) days. It takes 36-48
hours for throat culture to reverse to negative.
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