What are the rules on child with conjunctivitis going to CM?

[TribbleWithoutACause]

Hi,

I picked ds up today and cm days he may have conjuctivitus. I have an appointment with the Docs tomorrow to check it out. Now I know CM can't have him, but she said she can have him either with antibiotics or at some other point, she didn't seem sure.

Can someone clarify it for me, if a child has eye drops can they go or do they have to wait for things to completely clear up? What point can they go?

Thank you.

She can have him whenever look here - no exclusion necessary

The Health Protection Agency recommends that children do not need to be kept away from a childminder's or nursery setting unless there is a cluster of cases. However, when I recently caught it from ds, he went merrily off to school whilst I was forbidden by occupational health to go into work until I'd had 24 hours of treatment!

I would happily accept a child when the treatment has started and if they were comfortable with it.

I would accept a child if they were ok and not in a lot of discomfort, and once they'd got drops or cream.
I'd also make sure that they were washing their hands more than normal and using their own towel / face cloth which would be changed more regularly.

Thank you for your replies, I told her what they said on the health protection agency (I hope it didn't come across as snotty) and am just waiting to see what she says now.

The HPA info is there for guidance - if the minder chooses to impose her own exclusions that is their perogative. So even though there is no actual exclusion recommended by the HPA the minder could exclude iyswim. Ie as a minder I exclude till anti'bs have started... primary school doesn't exclude however secondary does for 48rhs hours after anti'bs have started

I use the HPA as guidance but i do exclude for conjuctivitus/sticky/pink eye. I have it clearly written in my policy and explain to parents that i have this because i once caught conjuctivitis from a child and it wasn't pleasant and i couldn't work until the drops had cleared the muck from my eyes. I will take children once the treatment has started and the eyes are looking better. It can be very difficult for a young child to cope with conjuctivitis, they have no idea about hygiene and because their eyes are uncomfortable they tend to rub their eyes and then touch toys etc.

Thats fine, we've started the treatment today and I'll see what he's like tomorrow and go from there.

Lots of conjunctivitis is viral and doesn't require any treatment at all.