Infectious Disease Preventation:
Core Strategies

Recommending Routine Vaccinations for Anyone Eligible
Staying up to date on all routine vaccinations is essential to prevent illness from many different infections & infectious disease.

Staying Home When Sick
Any student, staff member or visitor should stay home if they are not feeling well. Please do not attend ISLA if you are not feeling well, even if you think symptoms might improve during the day. Please stay home for 24 and monitor symptoms. If symptoms improve and you feel better, you can return to school. If symptoms do not improve, consider an evaluation by a health care provider and/or testing if appropriate.

If you test positive for any infectious disease, please notify ISLA and stay home for the recommended time frame & until you are no longer infectious. If a student or staff member becomes sick while at school, they will be asked to put on a face mask and should go home ASAP. Parents/guardians should have a plan in place in the event that their child needs to be picked up during the school day. Arrangements should be made so the student is picked up in a timely manner.

Ventilation
ISLA will maintain a proper ventilation system to reduce the amount of germs and contaminants in the air.

Hand Hygiene & Respiratory Etiquette
Proper hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette will be encouraged for all students, staff and visitors. Parents can reinforce these concepts and practice these same strategies at home with their children.

Cleaning
Recommended procedures for routine cleaning of high-touch surfaces will be followed.
‍

Additional Strategies

ISLA will monitor the CDC’s Respiratory Illness Community Levels, as well as the levels at ISLA, to help determine whether additional preventive measures need to be implemented. These community levels are based on multiple factors and can be classified as low, medium or high. Additional strategies that can be implemented include:

Masking
If Community Levels are high, wearing universal face masks will be implemented. Administration may also require students, staff, and visitors to wear face masks for large group gatherings or other circumstances at their discretion.

If universal face coverings need to be implemented, this information will be communicated in the ISLA newsletter on Fridays.

If Community Levels are low or medium, face coverings will be optional.

Case Investigation
Case investigation may be implemented during an outbreak to help reduce transmission of infectious disease.

Management of Infectious Disease Cases

Students or staff who come to school with symptoms, or become symptomatic while at school, will be asked to put on a face mask, be sent home ASAP, and asked to get tested.

Anyone who tests positive for any infectious disease needs to report this to ISLA as soon as possible.

A notice will be sent to the classroom of any student who recently tested positive for an infectious disease.
‍
Return to School Following Respiratory Illness‍

ISLA will be following the guidelines set forth by the CDC and MN Dept. of Health for any infectious disease, including all respiratory illnesses.

We will be following the Respiratory Virus Guidance for any respiratory illness (which includes things such as COVID-19, influenza, RSV, bronchitis, etc.).

The recommendations following any respiratory illness are to return to normal activities when:
‍
- Fever has been gone for 24 hours (without the use of fever-reducing medications)
- Symptoms have been steadily improving for 24 hours
- You feel well enough to participate in your daily activities
- Coughing and sneezing are reduced to occasional and intermittent

‍Please note that, depending on individual symptoms, your time at home could be shorter than others with a similar illness, it might be the same, or it could be longer if you continue to experience symptoms or a fever.

Once people feel better following respiratory illness and they resume normal activities, they are encouraged to take additional prevention strategies for the next 5 days to curb disease spread.

You are encouraged to reduce illness transmission by wearing a well-fitting face mask, enhancing hygiene practices, keeping distance from others, and/or getting tested for respiratory viruses (if you haven’t already done so).

As part of the guidance, CDC and MDH continue to recommend core preventative strategies. These strategies include:
‍
- Staying up to date with vaccinations
- Practicing good hygiene by covering coughs and sneezes, washing or sanitizing hands often, and cleaning frequently touched surfaces
- Taking steps for cleaner air, such as bringing in more fresh outside air, purifying indoor air, or gathering outdoors

Recommendations for return to school following other infectious diseases include:
‍
- 24 hours following vomiting/diarrhea and able to tolerate a normal diet
- 24 hours after fever returns to normal (without the use of fever-reducing medications)
- 12 hours after the start of antibiotics for strep throat (longer if fever persists)
- Coughing/sneezing/runny nose has reduced to infrequent or occasional