Conjunctivitis - nursery policy

[Cashew]

Hi,
Does your nursery have a 48 hour policy for conjunctivitis?
My little one had a very minor gunky eye the other day and so had to be off for 48 hours. They requested GP appt, which I duly did, GP gave me drops, to be on safe side (no gunk/inflammation on eyes at appt!)

To be honest, it made me a bit cross really, as they had kept little one all day, so surely if it was that important to exclude they should have contacted me during the day, not wait til hometime? (IMO).

A colleague at work said their nursery no longer excludes for conjunctivitis so I was wondering if the policy should be updated?

the health protection agency says no need to exclude:

hpa

Gps don't advise drops most of the time, rather clean with cooled boiled water and cotton wool several times a day but our nursery says you must see Dr before you come back in. Thankfully daddy is a dr ok he's not a GP, he's a hospital doc and doesn't deal with kids so I can quite happily go in and say with out lying that a dr has seen him he sees him most days and treat him appropriately without wasting NHS time.

No, our nursery doesn't have any exclusion for conjunctivitis but they ask that it is "being treated" so in practice they like you to have had advice from at least a pharmacist if not a GP.

No policy at mine.

I asked our nursery last time DS got it, as previous nursery excluded for 24 hours after first dose of eye drops - new nursery said "send 'im in, where do you think he got it in the first place?"

Ours did have a couple of years ago- not sure if it's changed. When DS got it they said he had to have seen a doctor and be on medication for 48 hours before he could come back. I was a bit miffed because I couldn't get a docs appointment for DS and the pharmacy couldn't dispense anything for under 3's. I basically had to usecotton wool and water.

They are not allowed to exclude, but it does have to be treated with drops, either from GP or pharmacist

why are they not allowed to exclude? I work in a private pre-school and we write our own policies (checked by a legal team). Our policy states 48 hrs exclusion after treatment has started. As well as spreading around the nursery it also spreads to staff, however good our hgiene, meaning time off and a pain in the a**e for contact lense wearers.

why does the health protection agency state that there is no need to exclude then?

From nhs website:

Should I keep my child home from school?

The Health Protection Agency advises that you do not need to keep your child off school if they have conjunctivitis, unless they are feeling particularly unwell.
If there are a number of cases of conjunctivitis at one school or nursery, you may be advised to keep your child away from school until their infection has cleared up. However, this is not usually necessary.

NHS website also says that medication is not normally given for conjunctivitis as it gets better on its own quickly.

Hmmm, so slightly different experiences. The HPA poster is really useful and I may refer to it if it happens again. However, I suspect that as they write their own policies (like sameasyoubutdifferent) they can 'do what they like' so to speak.
If I'm brave enough I might point them to the HPA (but I'm guesssing they would've already seen it).
I think I'll take the 'hope she wont get it again, so keep quiet tact' ...and then rethink when she gets it next time!!

own policies are meant to be written in conjuction with the HPA poster. It has to be displayed in all nurserys, and that is where the guidelines come from. I agree its daft as it really spreads very quickly. Its the same for Hand foot and mouth which can be very uncomfortable but again no exclusion time.