Please refer to the following table that indicates the minimum period of exclusion for infectious diseases.
Exclusions from School
Principals are required to exclude students according to the following table under the Health (Infectious Diseases) Regulations 2001.
Note: The regulations require the parent / guardian to inform the Principal as soon as practicable if the child is infected with any of the diseases listed in the table, or has been in contact with an infected person. It should be noted that in cases of diphtheria, typhoid and paratyphoid fever, exclusion and determination of recovery will be matters for the Municipal Medical Officer of Health.
“Contact” means child of school age or preschool age living in the same house as the patient or who has been in association with an infected person or a contaminated environment.
“Patient” includes carrier.
“School” includes any preschool centre, kindergarten, primary or secondary school.
Patients or contacts shall be prevented from attending school unless they comply with the conditions hereunder prescribed.
It should be noted that during outbreaks of diseases prescribed in the table Principals are to direct parents / guardians of students who are not immunised (see 4.1.2.3) to keep their children at home for the recommended period.
Infectious Disease Policy
Minimum period of exclusion from schools and children’s services centres for infectious diseases cases and contacts.
In this schedule “medical certificate” means a certificate of a registered medical practitioner.
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Conditions
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Exclusion of Cases
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Exclusion of Contacts
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Amoebiasis (Entamoeba histolytica)
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Exclude until diarrhoea has ceased
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Not excluded
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Campylobacter
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Exclude until diarrhoea has ceased
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Not excluded
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Chicken pox
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Exclude until fully recovered or for at least five days after the eruption first appears. Note that some remaining scabs are not a reason for continued exclusion
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Any child with an immune deficiency (for example, leukaemia) or receiving chemotherapy should be excluded for their own protection. Otherwise not excluded
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Conjunctivitis
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Exclude until discharge from eyes has ceased
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Not excluded
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Cytomegalovirus infection
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Exclusion not necessary
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Not excluded
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Diarrhoea
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Exclude until diarrhoea has ceased or until medical certificate of recovery is produced
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Not excluded
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Diphtheria
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Exclude until medical certificate of recovery is received following at least two negative throat swabs, the first not less than twenty-four hours after finishing a course of antibiotics and the other forty-eight hours later
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Exclude family / household contacts until cleared to return by the Secretary
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Glandular fever (mononucleosis)
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Exclusion is not necessary
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Not excluded
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Hand, foot and mouth disease
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Until all blisters have dried
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Not excluded
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Haemophilus type b (Hib)
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Exclude until medical certificate of recovery is received
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Not excluded
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Hepatitis A
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Exclude until a medical certificate of recovery is received, but not before seven days after the onset of jaundice or illness
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Not excluded
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Hepatitis B
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Exclusion is not necessary
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Not excluded
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Hepatitis C
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Exclusion is not necessary
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Not excluded
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Herpes (cold sores)
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Young children unable to comply with good hygiene practices should be excluded while the lesion is weeping. Lesions to be covered by dressing, where possible
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Not excluded
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Hookworm
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Exclusion is not necessary
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Not excluded
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Human immuno-deficiency virus infection (HIV/AIDS virus)
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Exclusion is not necessary unless the child has a secondary infection
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Not excluded
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Impetigo
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Exclude until appropriate treatment has commenced. Sores on exposed surfaces must be covered with a watertight dressing
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Not excluded
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Influenza and influenza like illnesses
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Exclude until well
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Not excluded
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Leprosy
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Exclude until approval to return has been given by the Secretary
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Not excluded
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Measles
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Exclude for at least four days after onset of rash
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Immunised contacts not excluded. Unimmunised contacts should be excluded until fourteen days after the first day of appearance of rash in the last case. If unimmunised contacts are vaccinated within seventy-two hours of their first contact with the first case they may return to school
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Meningitis (bacteria)
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Exclude until well
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Not excluded
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Meningococcal infection
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Exclude until adequate carrier eradication therapy has been completed
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Not excluded if receiving carrier eradication therapy
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Molluscum contagiosum
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Exclusion not necessary
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Not excluded
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Mumps
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Exclude for nine days or until swelling goes down (whichever is sooner)
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Not excluded
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Parvovirus (erythema infectiousum fifth disease)
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Exclusion not necessary
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Not excluded
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Poliomyelitis
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Exclude for at least fourteen days from onset. Re-admit after receiving medical certificate of recovery
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Not excluded
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Ringworm, scabies, pediculosis (head lice)
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Re-admit the day after appropriate treatment has commenced – see below
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Not excluded
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Rubella (German measles)
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Exclude until fully recovered or for at least four days after the onset of rash
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Not excluded
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Salmonella, Shigella
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Exclude until diarrhoea ceases
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Not excluded
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Streptococcal infection (including scarlet fever)
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Exclude until the child has received antibiotic treatment for at least twenty-four hours and the child feels well
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Not excluded
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Trachoma
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Re-admit the day after appropriate treatment has commenced
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Not excluded
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Tuberculosis
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Exclude until receipt of a medical certificate stating that the child is not considered to be infectious
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Not excluded
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Typhoid fever (including paratyphoid fever)
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Exclude until approval to return has been given by the Secretary
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Not excluded unless considered necessary by the Secretary
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Whooping Cough
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Exclude the child for five days after starting antibiotic treatment
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Exclude unimmunised household contacts aged less than seven years and close child care contacts for fourteen days after the last exposure to infection or until they have taken five days of a ten day course of antibiotics
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Worms (intestinal)
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Exclude if diarrhoea present
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Not excluded
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Additional Information for Treatment of Headlice
Headlice in schools can cause some concern and frustration, particularly to the parents who have treated their child’s hair and then have their child reinfected.
If headlice are present, please use the conditioner and fine tooth comb treatment or obtain the appropriate treatment from the chemist and carefully comb out the eggs, as well as the lice themselves.
Signs to look for:
- frequent head scratching
- a fine black powder on the pillow (this is louse faeces)
- paler coloured material on pillows (this is cast off lice skin)
- the lice themselves
- tiny white specks stuck near the root of hair (these are the “nits” or lice eggs)
After treatment, use a fine toothed comb or your fingernails to clear the head of dead lice and nits.
To support parents and the broader school community to achieve a consistent, collaborative approach to head lice management, the school undertakes a “Parent Managed Headlice Program”.
Trained parent volunteers conduct inspections of students and in cases where head lice are found, the person inspecting the student will inform the student’s class teacher and the Principal, and the school will send a written notice home with the child.
Conditioner and a Nit Comb – the Solution to Reinfection
If all children or adults at risk put conditioner on their hair once a week and comb it out with a fine tooth comb, head lice would become a minor problem. Older kids can do this, but will need the encouragement of parents. Younger children will need parents to do this for them.
Conditioner and a fine tooth comb is a cost-effective way to stop head lice re-establishing themselves.
Used once a week it can get rid of the reinvading louse. Apply conditioner to dry hair or wet hair, and comb off all the conditioner with a fine tooth comb. Look for lice and eggs by wiping the combings on paper tissue. If you find less than five lice, repeat the conditioner and fine tooth combing daily until all lice are gone. If you find more than five lice, use an insecticidal treatment. Remember to retreat in seven days, and to use conditioner and fine tooth comb at least twice between treatments.