| Deweyville ISD Home Page |
Health Services
| Lisa Brinson, RN | (409) 746-2681 ext. 5 |
| Brandi Wilhelm, LVN | (409) 746-2685 |
Deweyville ISD Health Service Policies
State Health Requirements and Services
Deweyville ISD Health Service Policies
INFORMATION TO PARENTS:
In order to insure a safe and healthy atmosphere for your child in school, we request the following rules be observed:
a. Children with the following symptoms should remain at home for observation and treatment:
REMEMBER THAT COLD SYMPTOMS CAN BE A FORERUNNER OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASE:
I. Chronic illnesses such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease, allergic reaction, epilepsy, etc. should be discussed in detail with your child's teacher, principal and school nurse.II. Students requiring medication during the school hours must have a signed permission slip on file in the nurse's office (forms available in nurse's office). All over-the-counter medications must be in the original bottle; and prescribed medicine in prescription bottles. All medicine is kept in the nurse's office. The exceptions are inhalants for asthma, which requires a physician's note for inhaler to be kept on student or in nurse's office. The note must state the medication is to be self-administered by the student in the event the nurse is out and a sub is in her office and/or if the student is on a field trip.
HEALTH SERVICES/IMMUNIZATIONS/MEDICATION
We have a full-time registered nurse that serves the elementary school, the middle school, and the high school. She provides first aid for any elementary school child who becomes ill or injured at school. Parents are notified to come for their child if a problem occurs. When the nurse is absent there will be a substitute in her office to perform routine first aid.
It is mandatory that your child have an adequate certification of immunization on file in the school nurse's office. Please keep your child's immunization record up-to-date. Failure to do so may lead to suspension or expulsion from school.
If it is necessary for your child to take medication at school, verification by your doctor is required. The policy on Administration of Medications by School Personnel is as follows: A student may have an illness, which requires medication for treatment that does not prevent his/her attending school. If possible, such medication should be given by the parent and taken at home. However, if the student needs to take his/her medication during school hours in order to assume full participation in the school program, dispensing the medication becomes the responsibility of the school.
Medication may be administered to a student provided:
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The district has a written request to administer the medication from the parent, legal guardian, or other person having legal control over the student.
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When administering prescription medication, the medication must be in the original container and be properly labeled with the student's name, name of drug, the directions concerning dosage, and the duration of the medication period.
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Non-prescription medications-must be in the original container and require a written note to administer the medication from the parent. The student should not carry the medication with him/her or administer it to himself.
Policy on communicable disease:
Children will be excluded from school until released by a physician for the following diseases: mumps, measles, rubella, chicken pox, whooping cough, streptococcal infections including scarlet fever, diphtheria, poliomyelitis, infectious hepatitis, pink eye, impetigo, scabies, and other infectious skin conditions, head lice (exclude from school until approved re-admission by school nurse) and other more severe communicable diseases.
Health Screening and Emergency Forms must be completed and returned to the school. It is important that we have this information on file.
MINIMUM STATE VACCINE REQUIREMENTS FOR TEXAS CHILDREN
Provisional Enrollment: All immunizations should be completed by the first date of attendance. However, if this is not possible and if permitted by local school district policy, a child/student may be provisionally enrolled and allowed to attend a child-care facility or school, provided at least one immunization in the series has been received. The remaining required immunizations must be completed as soon as medically possible in order for the child/student to remain in attendance.
Documentation: Since many types of personal immunization records are in use, any document will be acceptable, provided it has been validated by a physician or public health personnel. The month, day, and year that the vaccination was recieved must be recorded on all school immunization records created or updated after September 1, 1991.
Exclusions: Texas law provides for exclusions from this minimum mandatory requirement for medical or religious reasons.
HEAD LICE POLICY
Any student found to have an infestation of head lice will be sent home as soon as possible, from time infestation is found. The child must be treated with either a prescription medicated lice shampoo or an over the counter lice shampoo. The child must be brought to the nurse's office and cleared to return to school. If the child is not free of lice and nits, they will be unable to return to school. All nits and bugs must be removed. If the child is sent home more than 3 times from a single infestation, he/she will have to have a doctor's note to return to school. The nurse may also require the parent to bring up the empty bottle of lice medication and the receipt of purchase to prove that the child is being treated.
DEWEYVILLE INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT HEALTH SERVICE
Instruction of Lice Infestation
Dear Parent or Guardian our children deserve to be lice free!!!
Head lice are a chronic infestation of the hair that causes itching and discomfort and are easily spread from one person to another. The louse is a small bug that is very hard to see.
Nits are the egg sacs of lice that attach themselves to the base of the human hair by nature's own super glue. A single head louse may deposit 90 nits out of her 30-day cycle. The nits appear as small pearly oval specks that bare an uncanny resemblance to dandruff. They are extremely difficult to remove especially the hatched eggs that are close to the scalp. Any nits that are not killed may hatch and re-infest the hair in 7 to 10 days, which is why a second treatment is required.
To get rid of lice, these instructions should be followed:
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Medicated shampoo that will kill lice may be obtained from the drugstore such as Rid, A-200 Pyrinate, Tisit or Bare. Follow the directions on the bottle for applying shampoo.
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If desired a prescription shampoo may be obtained from your physician, such as Kwell or Pnoderm.
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Sheets, bed linens, and clothing should be washed in scalding hot water daily. Mattresses should be vacuumed and kept clean. R & C spray is effective on upholstered furniture and/or carpet.
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No currently marketed pediculicide shampoo can kill all the eggs.
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All hatched and unhatched nits must be removed before the child returns to school.
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A nit removal comb is an essential tool. Sometimes, the nits can be removed only by picking them off one by one. Hence the term "nit picking". No student will be permitted to return to school as long as nits are in the hair.
Children and Students Included in Requirements
(a) The vaccine requirements apply to all children and students entering, attending, enrolling in, and/or transferring to child-care facilities or public or private primary or secondary schools or institutions of higher education.
(b) The vaccines required in this section are also required for all children in the State of Texas, including children admitted, detained, or committed in Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Mental Health and Mental Retardation, and Texas Youth Commission facilities.
(c) The vaccine requirements are adopted as a statewide control measure for communicable disease as defined in Health and Safety Code, §81.081 and §81.082. The requirements are adopted as an "instruction" of the department as that term is used in the Health and Safety Code, §81.002.
Exclusions from Compliance
Exclusions from compliance are allowable on an individual basis for medical contraindications, reasons of conscience, including a religious belief, and active duty with the armed forces of the United States. Children and students in these categories must submit evidence for exclusion from compliance as specified in the Health and Safety Code, §161.004(d), Health and Safety Code, §161.0041, Education Code, Chapter 38, Education Code, Chapter 51, and the Human Resources Code, Chapter 42.
(1) To claim an exclusion for medical reasons, the child or student must present a statement signed by the child's physician (M.D. or D.O.), duly registered and licensed to practice medicine in the United States who has examined the child, in which it is stated that, in the physician's opinion, the vaccine required is medically contraindicated or poses a significant risk to the health and well-being of the child or any member of the child's household. Unless it is written in the statement that a lifelong condition exists, the exemption statement is valid for only one year from the date signed by the physician.
(2) To claim an exclusion for reasons of conscience, including a religious belief, a signed affidavit must be presented by the child's parent or guardian, stating that the child's parent or guardian declines vaccinations for reasons of conscience, including because of the person's religious beliefs. The affidavit will be valid for a two-year period. The child, who has not received the required immunizations for reasons of conscience, including religious beliefs, may be excluded from school in times of emergency or epidemic declared by the commissioner of public health.
(A) A person claiming exclusion for reasons of conscience, including a religious belief, from a required immunization may only obtain the affidavit form by submitting a written request to the department. The request must include the following:
(i) full name of child;
(ii) child's date of birth (month/day/year);
(B) Written requests must be submitted through the United States Postal Service (or other commercial carrier), by facsimile, or by hand delivery to the department's Bureau of Immunization and Pharmacy Support, 1100 West 49th Street, Austin, Texas 78756.
(C) Upon request, one affidavit form for each child will be mailed unless otherwise specified (shall not exceed a maximum of five forms per child).
(D) The department shall not maintain a record of the names of individuals who request an affidavit and shall return the original request with the forms requested.
(3) To claim an exclusion for armed forces, persons who can prove that they are serving on active duty with the armed forces of the United States are exempted from the requirements in these sections.
Required Immunizations
Every child in the state shall be immunized against vaccine preventable diseases caused by infectious agents in accordance with the following immunization schedule.
(1) In accordance with the Texas Department of Health Immunization Schedule as informed by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' (ACIP) recommendations and adopted by the Texas Board of Health and published in the Texas Register annually, for all vaccines herein, vaccine doses administered less than or equal to four days before the minimum interval or age shall be counted as valid.
(2) A child or student shall show acceptable evidence of vaccination prior to entry, attendance, or transfer to a child-care facility or public or private elementary or secondary school, or institution of higher education.
(A) Children enrolled in child-care facilities, pre-kindergarten, or early childhood programs shall have the following.
(i) Age-appropriate vaccination against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, poliomyelitis, Haemophilus influenzae type b, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B, and varicella in accordance with the Texas Department of Health Immunization Schedule as informed by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' (ACIP) recommendations and adopted by the Texas Board of Health and published in the Texas Register annually. A copy of the current schedule is available at www.ImmunizeTexas.com or by mail to the Texas Department of Health, 1100 West 49th Street, Austin, Texas 78756.
(ii) Hepatitis A. Age-appropriate vaccination against hepatitis A for children attending a child-care facility, pre-kindergarten or early childhood programs located in a high incidence geographic area as designated by the department. A list of geographic areas for which hepatitis A is mandated shall be published in the Texas Register on an annual basis and is available at www.ImmunizeTexas.com or by mail to the Texas Department of Health, 1100 West 49th Street, Austin, Texas 78756.
(B) Students in kindergarten through twelfth grade shall have the following vaccines.
(i) Poliomyelitis.
(I) Upon entry into kindergarten, students are required to have four doses of polio vaccine one of which must have been received on or after the fourth birthday. Or, if the third dose was administered on or after the fourth birthday only three doses are required. If any combination of four doses of OPV and IPV was received before four years of age no additional dose if required.
(II) Polio vaccine is not required for persons eighteen years of age or older.
(ii) Diphtheria/Tetanus/Pertussis.
(I) Upon entry into kindergarten, students are required to have five doses of a diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis containing vaccine in any combination unless the fourth dose was received on or after the fourth birthday in which case only four doses are required.
(II) Students who started their vaccinations after age seven are required to have at least three doses of a tetanus-diphtheria containing vaccine. Any combination of three doses of a tetanus-diphtheria containing vaccine will meet this requirement. One dose of a tetanus-diphtheria containing vaccine is required within the last ten years.
(iii) Measles. Two doses of measles-containing vaccine are required. The first dose shall be administered on or after the first birthday.
(iv) Rubella. One dose of rubella vaccine received on or after the first birthday is required.
(v) Mumps. One dose of mumps vaccine received on or after the first birthday is required.
(vi) Hepatitis B.
(I) Three doses of hepatitis B vaccine are required for the following grades for the following school years:
(-a-) 2004-2005 for kindergarten through fifth grade and seventh through tenth grade;
(-b-) 2005-2006 for kindergarten through eleventh grade; and
(-c-) thereafter, beginning in school year 2006-2007, for all students in grades kindergarten through twelfth grade.
(II) In some circumstances, the United States Food and Drug Administration may approve the use of an alternative dosage schedule for an existing vaccine. These alternative regimens may be used to meet this requirement only when alternative regimens are fully documented. Such documentation must include vaccine manufacturer and dosage received for each dose of that vaccine.
(vii) Varicella. One dose of varicella vaccine received on or after the first birthday is required for the following grades for the following school years:
(I) 2004-2005 for kindergarten through fourth grade and seventh through tenth grade;
(II) 2005-2006 for kindergarten through fifth grade and seventh through eleventh grade; and
(III) thereafter, beginning in school year 2006-2007, for all students in grades kindergarten through twelfth grade. Two doses are required if the child was thirteen years old or older at the time the first dose of varicella vaccine was received.
(viii) Hepatitis A. Upon entry into kindergarten through third grade, two doses of hepatitis A vaccine are required for students attending a school located in a high incidence geographic area as designated by the department. The first dose shall be administered on or after the second birthday. A list of geographic areas for which hepatitis A is mandated shall be published in the Texas Register on an annual basis and is available at www.ImmunizeTexas.com , or by mail request at Texas Department of Health, 1100 West 49th Street, Austin, Texas 78756.
Provisional Enrollment
(a) The law requires that students be fully vaccinated against the specified diseases. A student may be enrolled provisionally if the student has an immunization record that indicates the student has received at least one dose of each specified age-appropriate vaccine required by this rule. To remain enrolled, the student must complete the required subsequent doses in each vaccine series on schedule and as rapidly as is medically feasible and provide acceptable evidence of vaccination to the school. A school nurse or school administrator shall review the immunization status of a provisionally enrolled student every 30 days to ensure continued compliance in completing the required doses of vaccination. If, at the end of the 30-day period, a student has not received a subsequent dose of vaccine, the student is not in compliance and the school shall exclude the student from school attendance until the required dose is administered.
(b) A student who is homeless, as defined by §103 of the McKinney Act, 42 USC §11302, shall be admitted temporarily for 30 days if acceptable evidence of vaccination is not available. The school shall promptly refer the student to appropriate public health programs to obtain the required vaccinations.
Meningitis is an infection of the fluid of a person's spinal cord and the fluid that surrounds the brain. People sometimes refer to it as spinal meningitis. Meningitis is usually caused by a viral or bacterial infection. Knowing whether meningitis is caused by a virus or bacterium is important because the severity of illness and the treatment differ. Viral meningitis is generally less severe and resolves without specific treatment, while bacterial meningitis can be quite severe and may result in brain damage, hearing loss, or learning disability. For bacterial meningitis, it is also important to know which type of bacteria is causing the meningitis because antibiotics can prevent some types from spreading and infecting other people. Before the 1990s, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) was the leading cause of bacterial meningitis, but new vaccines being given to all children as part of their routine immunizations have reduced the occurrence of invasive disease due to H. influenzae. Today, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Neisseria meningitidis are the leading causes of bacterial meningitis.
What are the signs and symptoms of meningitis?
High fever, headache, and stiff neck are common symptoms of meningitis in anyone over the age of 2 years. These symptoms can develop over several hours, or they may take 1 to 2 days. Other symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, discomfort looking into bright lights, confusion, and sleepiness. In newborns and small infants, the classic symptoms of fever, headache, and neck stiffness may be absent or difficult to detect, and the infant may only appear slow or inactive, or be irritable, have vomiting, or be feeding poorly. As the disease progresses, patients of any age may have seizures.
How is meningitis diagnosed?
Early diagnosis and treatment are very important. If symptoms occur, the patient should see a doctor immediately. The diagnosis is usually made by growing bacteria from a sample of spinal fluid. The spinal fluid is obtained by performing a spinal tap, in which a needle is inserted into an area in the lower back where fluid in the spinal canal is readily accessible. Identification of the type of bacteria responsible is important for selection of correct antibiotics.
Can meningitis be treated?
Bacterial meningitis can be treated with a number of effective antibiotics. It is important, however, that treatment be started early in the course of the disease. Appropriate antibiotic treatment of most common types of bacterial meningitis should reduce the risk of dying from meningitis to below 15%, although the risk is higher among the elderly.
Is meningitis contagious?
Yes, some forms of bacterial meningitis are contagious. The bacteria are spread through the exchange of respiratory and throat secretions (i.e., coughing, kissing). Fortunately, none of the bacteria that cause meningitis are as contagious as things 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.
However, sometimes the bacteria that cause meningitis have spread to other people who have had close or prolonged contact with a patient with meningitis caused by Neisseria meningitidis (also called meningococcal meningitis) or Hib. People in the same household or day-care center, or anyone with direct contact with a patient's oral secretions (such as a boyfriend or girlfriend) would be considered at increased risk of acquiring the infection. People who qualify as close contacts of a person with meningitis caused by N. meningitidis should receive antibiotics to prevent them from getting the disease. Antibiotics for contacts of a person with Hib meningitis disease are no longer recommended if all contacts 4 years of age or younger are fully vaccinated against Hib disease (see below).
Are there vaccines against meningitis?
Yes, there are vaccines against Hib and against some strains of N. meningitidis and many types of Streptococcus pneumoniae. The vaccines against Hib are very safe and highly effective.
There is also a vaccine that protects against four strains of N. meningitidis, but it is not routinely used in the United States. The vaccine against N. meningitidis is sometimes used to control outbreaks of some types of meningococcal meningitis in the United States. Meningitis cases should be reported to state or local health departments to assure follow-up of close contacts and recognize outbreaks. College freshman, especially those who live in dormitories are at higher risk for meningococcal disease and should be educated about the availability of a safe and effective vaccine which can decrease their risk. Although large epidemics of meningococcal meningitis do not occur in the United States, some countries experience large, periodic epidemics. Overseas travelers should check to see if meningococcal vaccine is recommended for their destination. Travelers should receive the vaccine at least 1 week before departure, if possible. Information on areas for which meningococcal vaccine is recommended can be obtained by calling the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at (404)-332-4565.
There are vaccines to prevent meningitis due to S. pneumoniae (also called pneumococcal meningitis) which can also prevent other forms of infection due to S. pneumoniae. The pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine is recommended for all persons over 65 years of age and younger persons at least 2 years old with certain chronic medical problems. There is a newly licensed vaccine (pneumococcal conjugate vaccine) that appears to be effective in infants for the prevention of pneumococcal infections and is routinely recommended for all children greater than 2 years of age.
For more information
Your school nurse, family doctor, and the staff at your local or regional health department office are excellent sources for informmation on all communicable diseases. You may also call your local health department or Regional Texas Department of Healthe office to ask about meningococcal vaccine. Additional information may also be found at the we sites for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Texas Department of Health.