Conjunctivitis and childcare

[amidsummernightsdream]

Dd (nearly 2) has had what i think is conjunctivitis since Saturday. Quite mild but weeping eyes durning the day and sticking together over night.

CM says she can go if not contagious but I don’t know if she is or not.

NHS website says they can go into school/ nursery and it can last up 2 weeks.

What have other people’s experiences been?

Thank you

Speak to the GP.

@Hibiscusroses nhs advice is only to see GP if last longer than 2 weeks, they advise to treat at home, so I’m not sure what I’d be going to the GP for. Doesn’t seem necessary, especially in current circumstances, don’t want to go if don’t need to.

Was interested in more with what others have done around childcare and how long they have kept them off etc

Good question. It is very contagious I think so you might want to try and get hold of the drops today and it usually clears up quickly with those rather than lasting two weeks. It's tricky if it's really mild, and they do get it all the time so I'm surprised your childminder doesn't have a clear policy on it. If it was very mild (like you couldn't even tell if it was conjunctivitis for sure) I'd maybe send her in, but if they're sticking together overnight then I wouldn't say it's that mild and I think you can be pretty sure it is.

Is she ill as well? It may be viral if she has cold like symptoms and this is not contagious.

bacterial conjunctivitis is very contagious and needs antibiotic eye drops. There is a lot of gunk on the eyeball and they may have red eyes. It also gets progressively worse no matter how clean you keep her eyes. My GP prescribed the eye drops on the phone recently for my DD. You can actually buy from a pharmacy (around £16 at the moment and apparently low on stock) but they will only sell it for over 2s so you could always lie if you need it quickly.

our childminder has a conjunctivitis policy of allowing them in 48 hours after taking the drops if the eyes are mostly clear.

source = me! Parent of 2 who have had it several times and one case very recently.

Thanks @chocopuffs i probably should have said i got her the drops from the chemist on sunday. They dont seem to have helped much so far.
You can definitely still see the discharge but it’s only occasional during the day and eyes aren’t red or swollen.

Assuming she probably is contagious but knowing it can last 2 weeks I wondered if other setting would not let child in for 2 weeks even if nhs advice is that they can go into nursery/ school.

I’ll get her ready with a view to us potentially being sent back home! Just a little frustrating. I work for myself and no work means no money but that’s life hey

oh it may be a different story in terms of pharmacists and costs if you are not in England.

Thats really helpful, thanks @Wedonttalkaboutbrunomars

Under 2 you need prescription eyedrops. My nursery won't let them in until they are on this treatment. If over 2 you can get from the counter.

Advice was to send them in if being treated when mine were smaller.

My LOs nursery has a sickness and illness exclusion policy as do most nurseries...in their policy it says not allowed in until eyes clear. Check the policy of your nursery

Nhs guidelines are the minimum a setting should follow and are aimed at keeping the kids in school. They often assume good hand hygiene forgetting children in early years share toys and rub eyes touch each other and don't wash hands. Settings have a duty to prevent infection so put in their own policies

Ds has had three episodes of conjunctivitis since joining nursery six months ago. They don't exclude for it so I guess there are lots of kids running around with it, rubbing their eyes and spreading it to everyone else. Ds is one of them as he is off nursery so often that I can't afford to keep him at home unless I have to. I did the first time he had an eye infection but now I don't. It is very contagious.

The drops only help if it's bacterial and many are viral. If it is bacterial your DD would stop being contagious after about 24h of starting them I think.

I would send her in if she isn't too unwell with it.

I think with ds it gets better after about a week with or without drops. By the way if you are struggling with drops I used the ointment instead and.found that easier to get in his eye.

@Anon987654321098 if you read the OP properly, i had spoken to the CM already, so no need for the judgy raised eyebrow emoji. I wanted to understand what the general approach was elsewhere

Update- CM wanted me to speak to the doctor first, kept her at home while i did so.
Doctor said after 24 hours of antibiotic treatment, she was fine to go in.
CM happy with that, dd going in later this afternoon.
Thanks for your help everyone