Immunosuppressed child - any extra precautions to keep safe in school?

[FletchingStraight]

My yr9 DD has just been put on immunosuppressants to manage a health condition. Thing is she caught Covid within days of returning to school in September & has been floored, had a huge flare up & been off school since. We're hoping this will calm her health condition with the aim of her returning slowly to school.

Does anyone have any experience of a clinically vulnerable child in a school setting & what extra precautions are they or school taking? We really don't want her to catch Covid again, she'll be immunised again once she's more stable.

We're already thinking of sitting in the best ventilated area of the classroom, lots of hand sanitiser & even considering masks although we'd like to avoid that if possible. We can tell her friends' parents to be mindful but tbh it's going to be (is) already rife in classrooms.

be excused from assemblies

not to be involved in indoor sport/PE, only out door

open window and door in the classroom, obviously, and I would suggest whole class hand sanitisation - maybe when arriving in the morning, and after lunch? No borrowed or shared equipment without it being disinfected.

Just trying to think what we do for the occasional child recovering from chemo, or similar, no singing. No crossing crowded corridors, masks in corridors ( not in classrooms) move around school a few minutes before or after the main rush, do not enter the main lunch hall

These are all great suggestions thank you @stripybluesocks

She's excused from PE already but excusing from assemblies is a great idea as it seems like they're continually doing house song & dance challenges they need to practice for. She has a packed lunch so usually eats outside or sneaks it in one of the empty classrooms.

Avoid whole school activities

Avoid anything with group singing

Get her a mask made of double silk, it isn’t the proper medical one but is so comfortable that she might actually wear it. It prevents my hayfever, cuts out cleaning product fumes when I clean so it’s clearly filtering stuff.

I use this one but if you get a difference brand watch out for fake ‘silk’ made from polyester

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sensitive-Mulberry-Adjustable-Hypoallergenic-Breathable_BLACK/dp/B08XN4DTSD?pd_rd_w=H67Or&content-id=amzn1.sym.38f90169-67d8-49b7-8ef1-61bdff262c06&pf_rd_p=38f90169-67d8-49b7-8ef1-61bdff262c06&pf_rd_r=0B9M8NH5K1XPK5SAPXD4&pd_rd_wg=stqP3&pd_rd_r=a81042bf-97d9-4214-b9b8-61e835d8c409&pd_rd_i=B08XN4DTSD&psc=1&ref_=pd_basp_m_rpt_ba_s_4_sc

Thanks @Voteva we do have one silk mask. Must get some more so we have enough to rotate. Dont want her skin to irritate & give reasons not to wear one!

Is this stuff any use? A little goes a long way

zoono.com/technology/

Im.a teacher,doubt you will be able to get a class to sanitise,there are very few of us who do. Could you ask if she can sit alone,or failing that nxt to someone in a mask?

Would a portable HEPA filter work?

Someone at uni carries one around to in person events. I honestly don’t know if they work or not but I’ve seen a lot of talk about improving air filtration in schools

My DC is on immunosuppressants and lives a normal life pretty much.
Was started on immunosuppressants during the height of covid. Were told to be careful for first 6 weeks, so during the one time they were in school in those 6 weeks they sat apart from others.
Since then they have done everything as normal. DC has had covid 3 times but luckily hasn't been too bad.

Dc is an adult now but at school if any infectious disease was going around I was personally contacted and told if dc had had direct contact/potential contact (then I could contact dcs nurseto discuss what we did) eg we pulled out of school earlier than schools closed with covid.
I assume dc has had all immunisations (dc was blood tested for antibodies and given a pneumonia vaccination but had got good antibodies for chicken pox and had had all childhood immunisations).
School (with our permission) explained to dcs friends/classmates the importance of good hygiene but couldn't make them do it.
You can't make adaptations that can be too detrimental to others eg opening a window could be potentially harmful to another child who has raynauds/arthritis so I've always found it's finding the compromise and accepting that we couldn't protect from everything and that's hard (a big worry). Sometimes the compromise was pulling dc out of school at the detriment of their education to protect them if say norovirus was rampant.

The DC needs to wear an FFP2 or FFP3 mask, and the class needs to be told why and that its OK for them to wear masks as well (they can't be compelled, but when it's an actual classmate then you may well find that many do)

Ask for open windows, and for your DC to be seated by an open window if possible, and always in the back row (so no-one is breathing forward on to her)

Equip her with a portable hepa filter fan, and encourage the school to invest in corsi-rosenthal boxes

She needs to have lunch in the first sitting (and sit by an open window) and should be excused assemblies (and as much contact beyond essential teaching groups as possible).

Dodgier ground in terms of passing on someone else's information, but you really should be told if your DC has been in contact with a known case. Because your DC may be eligible for advanced covid treatments, soo you really need to know when risk is elevated

This is a really shitty situation to be in

More really useful comments thank you all.

She's been ill for a while so is on a reduced timetable already so somethings we wont need to consider for a little while longer. Also DD won't want to be 'the special one' so when she's ready to start going back in I think we'll ask school to give a talk about virus hygiene, hand washing, coughing into elbow & not over your friends etc! I'll ask her friends parents to explain to their kids as they sit together in class so are the closest contacts (at least one of them caught Covid at the same time, possibly more but they didn't test). Will also ask about back of class/best ventilated area. Don't think they'll be keen to open windows with the weather changing so actually a portable HEPA filter is a great idea (thanks @Paupersgrave)

@helpmum2003 sorry your DC is also on this medication but it's really heartening to hear they're living normally.

@Lifechoicesinhindsight I'm not sure school will let me know about anything going around - I know previously during Covid it was considered a GDPR issue. She is up to date with vaccinations but hasn't ever had chickenpox. They don't want to immunise atm for this as it was more important to get this treatment started, I'll inform school of the importance of this. At least in theory most children have had it at this stage so risk should be a lot lower than if in primary.

@RoseAndRose thank you. unfortunately very few people are testing for Covid now. The only reason we knew previously was her friend whose parent works in Healthcare so needs to test did one & another has a long Covid parent. She actually tested negative for days on lfts it's only because her consultant checked via bloods that we know for sure she had it so it must've been a low viral load but it knocked her sideways. She'll get the latest vaccination once she stabilises a bit.

We/the school didn't do anything for my DS (now back at school after radiation and chemo), other than the school writing a letter to all parents explaining there is an immunocompromised child at school and they'd be grateful if the parents would notify them of any cases of chickenpox, shingles or measles, so that the immunocompromised child can be given appropriate medication / take time off school. There's a sample in this leaflet

https://www.cclg.org.uk/childhood-cancer-information-hub/supporting-your-pupil

Buy a HEPA filter air purifier for her classroom if you can afford to. Insist she sits next to it and it is running at full blast. It will go a hell of a lot further to helping protect her than hand sanitization, which does almost nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Open windows. If she wants to wear a mask, don't bother with anything other than a medical grade FFP3 mask like a 3M Aura. Cloth/silk etc don't do much.

Thanks @C152 chickenpox is something she's never had so we definitely want to avoid that. I'll add to the list of things to speak with school about.

@Archymum as she moves around classrooms that's not an option but a personal one is so we're looking at those. Thanks

Could she have the chickenpox vaccine maybe?

Do you have a risk profile from your doctors? DS is on immunosuppression drugs and Covid wasn't a concern for his team, an outbreak of chicken pox though would see him kept out of school!
Otherwise vit D and a broad multi vitamin won't hurt, plus good basic hygiene it about all you can do.

I'm not immunosuppressed but I do have a chronic illness which means any virus etc knocks me for six. I'm studying at university at the moment and my classmates are full of lurgies, so I wear an FFP2 mask whenever I'm in class or socialising. So far I haven't caught anything this term, so whilst one-way masking isn't perfect, if you have decent well fitting masks with a good seal, it does help. You can buy them in pretty colours in bulk on amazon too, if that would help. I did feel self-conscious to start with but nobody commented - and even without asking some lecturers and classmates wear a mask if they're symptomatic of something, which I appreciate.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09CMBV7D7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 these are the ones I use, purple because it's my favourite colour but they come in others. It sucks to be a teenager and stand out, but sometimes it just has to be done. You can "sterilise" them for reuse each day by putting them in a closed paper bag for 48 hours for the germs to die off

@whereisthecheese it's on a long list of things to do. We first need to get her stable, then the Covid vaccine, then there are other things the Drs want as well as getting her back to school.

@turkeyboots she was already poorly & it was a mild viral exposure to Covid that's sent it through the floor. Her immunologist wants her vaccinated again before she returns to school anyway but there's of course the chance that she won't get as good an immune response to this because of the immunosuppressants. She's on Vit D but can't tolerate any other supplements & her diet is severely restricted.

@drawingmaps thanks DH & I use these when we're out & about, she doesn't like them - very sensitive to smells & touch on her skin. Glad you're keeping the bugs at bay there are so many things around

We had a girl in our school that had leukaemia, when she was finally able to return to school the school sent out a very clear email explaining about her returning and the importance of everyone in helping mitigate any risks to her immune system, so to be strict with sick bugs, chicken pox, covid etc. Not one single person complained. Probably helped that it's a small town and there's been a fair bit of fundraising for her and her family so most people aware of who she is and how much she's already suffered. system

Best of luck to your dd. Dh is also immunosupressed and it's a minefield.