Advice from UKHSA on Winter Bugs
Date: 22 Nov 2024
As we move towards the season of winter bugs, we wanted to share some valuable resources that can help you to prevent or manage cases and outbreaks of infectious diseases in your setting. Please do share the following links with whoever manages absences/exclusions in your setting.
- A-Z of managing specific infectious diseases - GOV.UK This useful guide provides a quick snapshot of what you can do to prevent and manage cases and outbreaks of common infectious diseases such as chickenpox, hand, foot and mouth, ring worm and lots more. It also guides you to when you should contact your local Health Protection Team. Please have a read of the A-Z before contacting us.
- Exclusions Table: Health protection in education and childcare settings – this useful table can be printed out for use by your reception team and for parents and carers to see.
- Diarrhoea and Vomiting Action Card – a useful checklist if you have an outbreak of D&V in your setting.
- Respiratory Infection Action Card - a useful checklist for when you have cases of acute respiratory infections such as COVID or flu, but can also come in useful for general coughs and cold that spread quickly and can still make you feel quite ill.
Other Resources
- POSTER - Managing case of infectious diseases in schools and other childcare settings
- POSTER – Should I keep my child off school?
- BLOG - A parent’s guide to keeping kids healthy this school year – UK Health Security Agency
The SW Health Protection Team also continues to run free Health Protection webinars aimed at providing early years and education colleagues with information about how to prevent and manage seasonal cases and outbreaks. The next webinar will take place on Thursday 23 January 4-5pm and yourself and members of your team are more than welcome to attend. Future dates will also be listed on the Eventbrite page. You can book your place here.
