Can anyone direct me to a website that lists all the incubation periods for childhood illnesses

[mawbroon]

I am writing my policies just now and have been told that I should look up childhood illnesses online to get an idea of the incubation periods etc so I know how long to exclude a sick mindee for. Does anyone know if there is a site with it all listed in a table so I can print it out and give to parents?
TIA

PS I'm probably going to be a right pain in the arse asking all these questions. I'm just not sure how to search the archives.

NHS Direct
Wired for health

This is from South West London Health Protection Guidelines 2003:

"For some non life-threatening conditions such as hand, foot and mouth disease and
conjunctivitis the DOH poster states that there is no recommended exclusion period. This
would be because older children and teenagers would be able to prevent potential spread
to others by following good hand hygiene, etc. However, such conditions can be contagious
in the very young and nursery management should set out a policy regarding how such
cases would be managed within the nursery setting. This may include exclusion, in which
case a policy stating this and the rationale behind it should be developed and shared with
parents. However, with episodes of diarrhoea and/or vomiting, the child must be
excluded until they have been symptom free for forty-eight hours (48 hour rule).
Other illnesses require longer periods of exclusion (e.g. measles is for five days from onset
of rash) and these should be followed by nursery staff. "

So your exclusion periods may be longer than that of local schools if you care for babies & younger children. You also need to be aware of the risks to visitors and mindees families (eg if a mum is pregnant) if you accept a child who is unwell.

I've asked NHS Direct to consider providing more advice on their website re- exclusion periods for babies & younger children & they sent me a standard reply which says my suggestion will be put forward.

Thanks for your reply ayla99.
I just feel it's all a bit of a minefield really although the info must be out there somewhere!

I find this site more user friendly than nhs direct

though I often check both

Right, I've found a couple of nursery websites online that list their exclusion periods. I suppose I could modify this. Do the same exclusion periods apply whilst childminding? Obviously it's the same illnesses, but there are fewer children involved.
Do I list all the exclusion periods in my policies or do my policies just talk about general exclusion periods depending on the illness and then refer (eg) netdoctor?

Aaaargh so many questions!