Exclusion from school (guidance re: common infections)

Exclusion for five days

• from rash onset - chickenpox*, measles
• from starting antibiotics - whooping cough (pertussis)
• from onset of swollen glands - mumps

German measles (rubella)

• six days from onset of rash

Scarlet fever

• child can return 24 hours after commencing appropriate antibiotic treatment
  • antibiotic treatment recommended for the affected child

Exclusion until condition has settled

• giardiasis - see linked item
• salmonella -see linked item
• shigella - see linked item

Exclusion until lesions crusted or healed

• impetigo
  • until lesions are crusted and healed, or 48 hours after commencing antibiotic treatment

Shingles

• exclude only if rash is weeping and cannot be covered

Exclusion from school until treated

• scabies

With respect to hepatitis A:

• see linked item

With respect to gastroenteritis:

• NICE have stated that:
  • children should not attend any school or other childcare facility while they have diarrhoea or vomiting caused by gastroenteritis
    • children should not go back to their school or other childcare facility until at least 48 hours after the last episode of diarrhoea or vomiting
    • children should not swim in swimming pools for 2 weeks after the last episode of diarrhoea.

With respect to tinea capitis (fungal scalp infection):

• although the potential risk of transmission of infection to unaffected classmates has led some authorities to recommend exclusion from school - however most experts consider this impractical and suggest that children receiving appropriate systemic and adjunctive topical therapy should be allowed to attend school or nursery

Conditions where there is no recommended period to be kept away from school (once the child is well):

• influenza; cold sores (HSV); molluscum contagiosum; ringworm (tinea); athlete's foot; roseola; slapped cheek disease (parvovirus); warts and verrucae; conjunctivitis; glandular fever; head lice; non-meningococcal meningitis; thread worm; tonsillitis
• hand, foot and mouth disease
  • infected children should be kept away from school while they are unwell. The child should not be kept away from school till the last blister disappears, providing the child is well.

Reference:

1. Guidance on infection control in schools and other childcare settings. UK Health Security Agency (September 2017 - last updated June 2024)