McMeen Elementary

Weekly Message from Nurse Miriam

10/26/22, 3:30 PM

Hello McMeen Families,

 I know, I know, Nurse Miriam sounds like a broken record. 💽😒

  Unfortunately, this time of year leads to repeat health messages. As Autumn settles in and people are indoors more often, we see in increase in viruses. We are seeing quite a few of fevers, cold-like symptoms, stomach upset, and occasional vomiting throughout McMeen. 🤧🤒😷🤢🤮

  We know how frustrating it can be when our children stay home sick for multiple days and seems to get better, only to find out that they aren't feeling well at school. Here are some reminders and recommendations regarding student illnesses:

1. 🤒 If you child has a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher (fever) they should not be at school until their fever is gone for at LEAST 24 hours WITHOUT the use of medication to lower their temperature. If you do not have a thermometer, you can find some usually priced as low as $6.00 at your local grocery store, Walgreens, Target, etc. 

    Why? A fever is the body's way of getting rid of an active illness. If a individual has a fever, they are most likely contagious and likely to spread their illness to others. Fevers can sometimes seem to "go away" in the mornings and return in the afternoon/evenings. This is why we ask to wait a full 24 hours to make sure your student truly no longer has a fever.

     Also, if your student has a fever, they obviously are sick and not feeling well and should stay home and heal.

2. 🤢🤮If your child has vomited 2 or more times, or experiencing significant nausea, they should stay home until they have not been vomiting for at least 24 hours and they are feeling better.

3. 💩 If your child has more than 1 episode* of diarrhea, they should also stay home until they have not has diarrhea for at least 24 hours and are feeling better. Keep in mind, diarrhea can be identified by liquidly stool. Soft, unformed stool is not necessarily indicative of an illness, whereas watery diarrhea can be indicative of illness. 

    *If your child is supported by a school professional with toileting, you child should stay home even if only 1 episode of diarrhea has occurred.

4. If your student is not feeling well in any way that leads to your making the decision that your child needs medicine to feel better, it's best to keep your student home. 

5. What about these "cold symptoms?" What if my child has been coughing and has had a runny nose for days and days and never tests positive for Covid?

     First of all, anytime we have cold symptoms, it is advised to administer a home Covid test or have one done at a testing site. Secondly, there are so so so many other viruses out in our community that can present with fever, runny nose, headache, vomiting, coughing etc. The other viruses, such as influenza, norovirus, rhinovirus, adenovirus, etc. are still contagious and can lead to severe illness in some individuals. 

   If your child is frequently coughing to a point where it is obvious they would have a hard time participating in school activities, they should not come to school. If you have kept your child home for 3 days or more and/or seems to be experiencing symptoms for longer than a week, it is advised that you contact your child's pediatrician. If your student doesn't have a primary pediatrician, we recommend contacting our Denver Health School Based Centers for FREE exams for ANY/ALL DPS students. Below, you will find their website link and phone number.

                  Website for Denver Health School Based Clinics

                  Phone number for Denver Health School Based Clinics:  303-602-8958

 

 6. Last but not least: Please encourage your students to cover their coughs in their elbow region and wash hands regularly, especially before mealtime. Consider asking your child to wear a face mask after they have been sick at home. Masks can ALWAYS help in decreasing the amount of illness transmission and mask wearing is always recommended and welcome here at McMeen, regardless of presence of illness. If you students are younger, consider working on the technique of blowing one's nose. Many of our younger students struggle with nose blowing, which can lead to rubbing noses with hands and arms which then leads to mucus being spread throughout the classroom. 

 Thank you all for supporting our community in our best efforts to keep everyone as healthy as possible and in school as much as possible!

  Stay Well!

Nurse Miriam