3.6.1.4: Infectious Disease Outbreak Control

During the course of an identified outbreak of any reportable illness at the facility, a child or staff member should be excluded if the health department official or primary care provider suspects that the child or staff member is contributing to transmission of the illness at the facility, is not adequately immunized when there is an outbreak of a vaccine preventable disease, or the circulating pathogen poses an increased risk to the individual. The child or staff member should be readmitted when the health department official or primary care provider who made the initial determination decides that the risk of transmission is no longer present.

RATIONALE

Secondary spread of infectious disease has been proven to occur in child care. Control of outbreaks of infectious diseases in child care may include age-appropriate immunization, antibiotic prophylaxis, observing well children for signs and symptoms of disease and for decreasing opportunities for transmission of that may sustain an outbreak. Removal of children known or suspected of contributing to an outbreak may help to limit transmission of the disease by preventing the development of new cases of the disease (1).

TYPE OF FACILITY

Center, Early Head Start, Head Start, Large Family Child Care Home, Small Family Child Care Home

RELATED STANDARDS

3.6.1.1 Inclusion/Exclusion/Dismissal of Ill Children
3.6.1.2 Staff Exclusion for Illness
3.6.4.1 Procedure for Parent/Guardian Notification About Exposure of Children to Infectious Disease
3.6.4.2 Infectious Diseases That Require Parent/Guardian Notification
9.2.4.4 Written Plan for Seasonal and Pandemic Influenza

REFERENCES

1. Siegel, J. D., E. Rhinehart, M. Jackson, L. Chiarello, Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee. 2007. 2007 guideline for isolation precautions: Preventing transmission of infectious agents in healthcare settings. http://www.cdc.gov/hicpac/pdf/isolation/Isolation2007.pdf.