Contagious diseases
Children with certain contagious diseases are to be excluded from school in accordance with regulations. Parents and caregivers should check with the school for details of the period of exclusion particular to each contagion. Please refer to the following pages of this handbook for the exclusion periods.
Infectious diseases
Recommended minimum exclusion periods for infectious diseases for Schools and Child Care Centre. (Based on the National Health & Medical Research Council Guidelines).
Children who are physically unwell should stay home from school and Child Care Centres.
The following guidelines have been drawn up by the National Health and Medical Research Council on the premise that pupils who have been ill with an infectious disease will not return to school until they have fully recovered. The only exception to this rule is that pupils with certain skin diseases may return once appropriate treatment has commenced (see following table).
The recommended periods of exclusion from school are issued as a guide to teaching staff and may be modified in individual cases as circumstances warrant. In cases of doubt or for guidance in cases of conditions not mentioned in the table, advice should be sought from the relevant clinician, child health medical officer or medical officer of health. Similarly, advice on possible preventative measures should be sought if cases occur in boarding institutions amongst pupils housed in dormitory type accommodation.
Carriers of diseases such as Hepatitis B and AIDS are not to be excluded without the explicit approval of the Director-General of Education on the advice of the Director-General of Health and Medical Services. The risk of contracting these diseases in schools is minimal, as both are transmitted by intimate contact which is not normal behaviour between teachers and pupils, or between pupils. If aggressive behaviour causes concern, advice can be sought from the above.
| Chicken pox and Shingles | Exclude for at least five days after the first appearance of the rash and the last blister has scabbed over. (Some remaining scabs are not a reason for continued exclusion) | Exclude children with immune deficiencies (eg. leukaemia or chemotherapy), otherwise not excluded. |
| Conjunctivitis | Exclude until discharge from eyes has ceased. | Not excluded. |
Cytomegal ovirus | Exclusion not necessary. | Not excluded. |
Diarrhoea (campylobacter, cryptosporidium, giardia, rotavirus, salmonella, shigella, intestinal worms) | Exclude until diarrhoea has ceased for 24 hours. | Not excluded. |
Glandular fever (mononucleosis) | Exclusion not necessary. | Not excluded. |
Hand, foot and mouth disease | Exclude until all blisters have dried. | Not excluded. |
*Hepatitis A | Exclude until 7 days after the onset of illness or jaundice. Readmit with a medical certificate of recovery. | Not excluded. |
Hepatitis B | Exclusion not necessary | Not excluded. |
Hepatitis C | Exclusion not necessary | Not excluded. |
Herpes ('cold sores') | Young children unable to comply with good hygiene practices should be excluded while sores are weeping. (Sores should be covered with a dressing where possible) | Not excluded. |
Human immune deficiency virus (HIV/AIDS virus) | Exclusion is not necessary unless the child has a secondary infection | Not excluded. |
Impetigo ('school sores') | Exclude until proper treatment has started. Sores on exposed skin should be covered) | Not excluded. |
Influenza and influenza-like illnesses | Exclude until well. | Not excluded. |
*Measles | Exclude for at least four days after rash first appears. | Immunised children not excluded. Non-immunised children and staff should be excluded until 14 days after the first day the rash appears in the last infected person. Excluded children or staff may return to the school or centre if immunised within 72 hours of contact with the first infected person. |
*Bacterial meningitis and meningococcal infection | Exclude until well. | Not excluded. |
Mumps | Exclude for 9 days or until swelling goes down. | Not excluded. |
Parvovirus (erythema infectiosum, slapped cheek or 'Fifth Disease') | Exclusion not necessary. | Not excluded. |
Ringworm, Scabies, Head lice | Exclude until day after approved treatment has commenced. | Not excluded. |
Rubella (German measles) | Exclude for at least four days after the rash first appears. | Not excluded. (Female staff of child-bearing age should check their immunity to rubella with their GP) |
Streptococcal infection (including scarlet fever) | Exclude until child has received antibiotic treatment for at least 24 hours. | Not excluded. |
*Tuberculosis | Exclude until well and approval to return has been given by a Public Health Unit Physician or delegate. | Not excluded. |
*Typhoid fever (including paratyphoid fever) | Exclude until well and approval to return has been given by a Public Health Unit Physician or delegate. | Not excluded unless advised by public health authority. |
*#Whooping cough (Pertussis) | Exclude for 14 days from onset of coughing or until child has taken five days of a 7 day course of antibiotics (erythromycin). | Household contacts who have received < 3 doses of pertussis vaccine should be excluded from childcare until they have taken 5 days of a 7 day course of erythromycin, or from 14 days after their last exposure to the infection. |
# Recommendations for exclusion of persons exposed to pertussis (contacts) is specific to Qld Health and may differ slightly from recommendations in 'Staying Healthy in Childcare'.
* Schools and childcare centres should notify the nearest Public Health Unit as soon as possible if attending children or staff members are diagnosed with any of these conditions.
Note: For full details of common infectious diseases, please refer to the NHMRC’s publication “Staying Healthy in Child Care” available from the Australian Government Publishing Service on 13 24 47.
Further advice and information on any of these conditions can be obtained by contacting your nearest Public Health Unit. (Brisbane - Northside (07) 3250 8555 or Southside (07) 3000 9148)
Please also refer to the
Recommended Exclusion Periods (PDF, 702KB) for Infectious Conditions produced by Queensland Health.