parasites at school

[JockoT]

What is your school doing to stop kids catching and re-infecting each other with worms and nits?

[Greensleeves]

replying on the parents to take care of their own children responsibly, I think

what do you think they should be doing?

[CarGirl]

err it does nothing, however fortunately our school seems to have been pretty much infestation free for quite some time. We obviously have mainly responsible parents who actually treat their children rather than ignore the issue.

[PlumBumMum]

Nothing apparently they don't need to its parental responsibility

BUT some parents don't even know what to look for

[mankyscotslass]

Our school relies on parents to be responsible, as they should be.

But it dosen't always pan out like that.

I don't see what else they could do tbh.

[PlumBumMum]

Cat64 it feels like a big deal when you seem to be doing all the cleaning in the world and your child gets worms again,

turns out half the mums weren't informing the school, so the school didn't think it was a problem, then the other half were oh God I didn't know about that if they say there beum is sore I stick sudo cream on it,

so my child is therefore likely to get infected again

touch wood we haven't had nits at our school yet but they are also less taboo and easier to spot

I think information leaflets is the way to go

[gorionine]

Appart for sending a letter every now and then to remind parents to check their children there is not much they can do is there? Unless they introduce compulsary checks during the school hours ( I think I heard it was the case in the UK at some point? Nit nurse or something?)

I personnally think it is the parents resoponsability, not the school's.

When I was little I cannot remember nits/worm being so common as I hear here, and I certainly never brought a note from school asking for parents to check their Dcs.

[PlumBumMum]

beum mean't bum

[IndigoSky]

[JockoT]

Thank you all for your comments. I also think the parents should keep the children healthy and clean. The problem for me is that they keep being re-infected! One child has become really quite ill and suffered from very rare complications from worms. Nobody talks about worms and the school is not aware of the problem. Some parents don't know what signs to look out for.

[saggarmakersbottomknocker]

If it'sreally bad than raise it with school. Ask the school to put something in the newsletter, and to contact the school nurse and ask for leaflets to distribute to parents.

It is parental responsibility but schools don't want them either because the staff can get infected too. Also teach your child a good handwashing routine.

[Elibean]

Nits come in phases (though dd has been lucky enough not to catch any yet), and we get a letter saying they are around and how to break the cycle/who to ask for help from if needs be (ie school nurse).

Worms, no one ever seems to tell the school, not sure what they'd do if they did. Mind you, I only know of two kids who've had them since Reception (Y1 now).

When dd1 had them (I think!) at pre-school, I told the school and they put a sign up saying someone had them in her group, and to check your child. But I had to hassle them to get them to do that, they didn't want to talk about them either

[crankytwanky]

That's what I thought, Indigosky!

[mathanxiety]

Information leaflets about nits, especially at the start of the year. One year there was a really long outbreak so the message clearly didn't get noticed by some. They also make you stay home until you have a medical cert stating you're nit free or a cert from some treatment place.

The school has never sent anything home about worms, so I assume they either feel squeamish about the subject or don't think it's a problem. TBH, the only time we had these was when they were very young and playing in a playground sandbox regularly. They supervise handwashing for the younger children and have supervised class-only trips to the loo on a regular basis throughout the day though.

Also, the school is cleaned pretty thoroughly every day. I trained my DCs from an early age to NEVER directly touch any surfaces in any public bathroom unless absolutely necessary, even to the point of having them take a wad of loo roll and wipe the seat thoroughly before going about their business. Whenever a tummy bug strikes the school I remind them to open the stall door using a few sheets of tp to hold the lock, and never to touch any other door or handle with a bare hand. I've probably given them all a complex....

I think you could bring up the problem with the school, otherwise they might never ask themselves if there might be a problem.

[westender]

mathsanxiety

Well if they develop OCD anytime in the future, you'll know why!

[SolidGoldBrass]

MA: DOn't you think you might, possibly be weakening their immune systems (as well as freaking them out) by being so germ-phobic? Worms are annoying but not lethal.

FWIW DS school has sent a nit letter round and I check his head every so often but so far no problems and he's never had worms.

(I am not superstitous. But if he gets the lot tomorrow I will be VERY CROSS with some of you).

[Goblinchild]

We ensure that the children are reminded to wash their hands, and do some work in class to show them what it means. And explain why, and the possible consequences of not doing so.
We send home nit letters if a child is spotted with lice.
We encourage children with long hair to tie it back, and explain why.
But to my mind, it really is a parental responsibility. School nurse can get involves with guidance and such for parents who appear to be unaware of what to do about a problem, but they are free to ignore all advice.

[mathanxiety]

I sound demented, I know, Westender and SGB.

I know they're not lethal, but when we had the first outbreak at home the doctor wouldn't let me take the meds because I was pg. I've been pg 9 times (several mcs) and whenever anyone got worms I got very worried on my own account, as well as dealing with the rest of the family. I didn't get a second opinion about the doc's proscription of worm medication so don't know if this would hold for everyone or be the advice of every doctor.

I hate worms partly because of all the extra mopping and cleaning and bedding-washing that a bout of them necessitates. With a large family, this is a real pita. Ditto for tummy bugs, and for a long time we just had one bathroom for everyone to puke all over.

I never buy or use anti-bacterial soaps, just ordinary ones for handwashing at home (don't know what sort they use in school, but they have antibacterial gel there since H1N1 emerged); I appreciate the value of bacteria in general, but I really don't want worms or tummy bugs, and we haven't had too many (fingers Xd) since they were all much younger.

[Goblinchild]

40% of children have worms?

I spend my days surrounded by children, I don't have headlice or worms.
I do, however, check my hair every three days with conditioner and a nit comb, and I have high standards of personal hygiene. My own children do the same, and they have never had worms. Nits, yes, but quickly sorted.
I come across a lot of people who think handwashing is either a waste of time, only necessary if you can see the dirt, or a quick splash of water will do the job.
There is a limit to school's effective involvement.

[PlumBumMum]

FWIW my doctor told me off as my poor children have sore cracked hand because of the amount of handwashing we do but they still get worms,
and only recently once I got fed up and another mum rang me fed up I spoke to other mums and they either told me
their dcs get them all the time or they didn't know/think to look for them but that would explain why XX has been scratching from christmas
another mum had to go for a colonoscopy and was given the medicine at the end she didn't even know she had them
and didn't know she was supposed to wash everything after,
I thought great I'm washing like a mad woman and ds comes to play in your house he could get infected[aarrrgghhh] and the cycle starts all over

[SolidGoldBrass]

I'm fairly laidback about hygiene but neither DS nor I has ever had worms. I've had nits but that was about 10 years before DS was born.