What is Delaware’s Infectious Disease School Health program?

The goal of Delaware’s School Health Infection Prevention Program is to keep children and adults who care for them, educators, and families healthy. Students rely on school staff such as nurses, teachers, and administrators to maintain healthy educational environments through teaching prevention strategies, looking out for potentially sick students, and mitigating situations when illnesses do occur in schools.

Respiratory viruses, such as COVID-19, Influenza, and RSV, are a large proponent of illnesses that can spread rapidly through schools and childcare settings. 

Aside from respiratory illnesses, other common school reportable disease includes pertussis (whooping cough) and varicella (chickenpox). Other non-reportable conditions can occur in schools and childcare settings can occur and DPH encourages schools to reach out regarding any concerns or inquiries related to infectious diseases within school and childcare setting.  

The school health program has created various resources and quick reference guides for infectious diseases in childcare settings. 

Outbreak Prevention
Schools are common areas for illnesses to spread rapidly, quickly resulting in outbreaks among groups such as classrooms, sports teams, and clubs.  To prevent the spread of illness, encourage frequent hand washing, clean and sanitize surfaces, and teach children to sneeze and cough into elbows or tissues.

Additionally, vaccination for respiratory virus and other vaccine preventable diseases that are commonly spread in school, are required or strongly encouraged to prevent the spread of illness. It is important to stay up to date on vaccines and receive full dosages of the multi-dose vaccinations to ensure maximum protection against infectious diseases. For information on required school vaccinations and vaccine exemptions refer to: https://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dph/dpc/immunize.html
Parents are encouraged to notify school nurse or staff if child is sick to prevent school outbreaks and to keep child home if experience symptoms of illnesses or have been diagnosed by provider with an infectious disease until symptoms have resolved. 

Reporting
The Office of Infectious Disease Epidemiology encourages schools to reach out for guidance and are to report school outbreaks or illnesses to the School Health Program in Office of Infectious Disease Epidemiology. 302-744-4990 and 1-888-295-5156 or reportdisease@delaware.gov.

Resources for School Nurses

Childcare manual