Protect yourself and your children from infection. Use the hand hygiene guidelines below, developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to prevent or reduce the rate of infection. These simple guidelines can be easily adapted to the school environment and carried through in the home environment.

• Handwashing - The single most important thing we can do 
• Coughing and Sneezing Etiquette from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
• Hand Washing and Nail Hygiene from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Hand hygiene for yourself and your children should occur:

• Upon arrival at school
• Immediately before and after eating
• After using the toilet
• After contacting any body fluids, including wet or soiled diapers, runny noses, spit, or vomit
• After handling pets, pet cages, or other pet objects
• Whenever hands are visibly dirty or after cleaning
• After removing gloves used for any purpose
• Before giving or applying medication or ointment
• Before going home

Recommended Hand Hygiene Techniques:

• Handwashing - Wet hands with water first, apply soap, and rub hands together for at least 20 seconds. Rinse and dry with disposable towel. Use towel to turn off the faucet.
• Alcohol-based hand rubs/gels - Application is the key. Apply to palm of one hand. Rub hands together covering all surfaces until dry. The volume used is based on the manufacturer. Be sure to let it dry.

Most cases of chicken pox these days are very mild in children who have been vaccinated against varicella.  It is best to consult your physician if you suspect chicken pox.  Your child must remain at home until all of the lesions (pox) are crusted over and there can be no new eruption of lesions in the last 24 hours.  He / she must also be fever free for at least 24 hours. This process generally takes about 5 days.  Your physician may require a longer period of isolation.  A doctor’s note is recommended.

Students and staff who test positive for COVID should stay home until they are fever-free for 24 hours, without using fever-reducing medication, and symptoms have been improving for 24 hours. 

Students and staff may choose to wear a mask while at school.

Additional COVID Resources:

Updated CDC Information (3/1/24)

CDC- General COVID information

COVID Vaccine Guidance

COVID Testing Guidance

Our schools help by:

• Teaching and encouraging proper handwashing techniques.
• Teaching effective coughing and sneeze techniques such as cough into your sleeve.
• Posting signs around the campus as a visual reminder.s
• Offering free flu vaccinations to staff.
• Encouraging all staff to remain home when ill.

Parents help by:

• Having their families vaccinated against the flu.
• Encouraging proper handwashing, sneeze and cough techniques be used at home.
• Consulting their healthcare providers when flu-like symptoms begin. Symptoms include: fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, fatigue and nasal congestion.
• Keeping children home when ill.

Students help by:

• Washing their hands for twenty seconds with soap and water before and after eating, after sneezing or coughing into their hands, after using the restroom, after playing outdoors and any other time their hands are dirty.
• Using tissues when sneezing and coughing into their sleeves.
• Not sharing food and drink.
• Encouraging others to do the same.

Collin County Health Department can help when:

• Increased incidences of diagnosed flu or absences related to flu-like illness are noted in a particular school.
• Helping plan and making suggestions for managing increased incidences in a particular area.

More information can be found on the following government sites:

• Center for Disease Control and Prevention
• Collin County Healthcare Services 
• Texas Department of State Health Services

Information regarding bacterial meningitis is available online from the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Staphylococcus aureus “Staph” is a bacteria commonly found on the skin or in the nose of healthy people. In the United States,, Staph bacteria are the most common cause of skin infections, causing pimples, boils and abscesses. Rarely, Staph can cause more serious infections leading to pneumonia or blood infections.

Some Staph bacteria have become resistant to common antibiotics, such as penicillin. These more potent bacteria are called “Methicillin-resistant.” In the past, these bacteria were found almost exclusively in hospitals. Recently, “MRSA” is being seen more and more in community settings, and is called community-associated MRSA, or CA-MRSA.

CA-MRSA usually develops as a skin infection such as a boil or abscess. Often, people describe the initial lesion as a “spider bite.” The involved area is swollen and red, painful, and pus may be present. The lesion will often get worse until proper treatment is begun.

MRSA is usually spread through direct skin-to-skin contact between an infected person and another individual, often on contaminated hands. Factors related to transmitting staph from one person to another include:

• Poor hygiene, especially lack of hand washing
• Close physical contact and crowded conditions
• Sharing personal products
• Contaminated laundry
• Shaving
• Lancing (puncturing/picking/piercing) boils with fingernails or tweezers
• Activities that result in burns, cuts or abrasions or require sharing of equipment
• Intravenous drug use, unsanitary tattoos, and body piercing
• Inadequate access to proper medical care

For more Information visit the web site below:
Texas Department of State Health Services

• Pertussis Fact Sheet English 
• Pertussis Fact Sheet Spanish 
• Pertussis and Pertussis Vaccine Information from the CDC

CDC - Tuberculosis Facts