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Parents and Guardians Forum>Clearly Pink Eye?
happymom 10:16 AM 01-23-2017
I'm not sure how to approach this or even if I should. I thought I'd ask you guys here.

I've got a little son in the toddler (ones) room at his daycare. There is a child who had two extremely runny/goopy/irritated eyes in his class. On Friday, I mentioned to the director on my way out just a "hey, it looks like there is a child with pink eye in the ones class"...

"Oh, it's not pink eye, it's conjunctivitis."

(Isn't that the clinical term for pink eye?).

I suppose it could be blocked tear ducts or something, but I know pink eye is very contagious and I'd rather not my kids get it. I'm at the mercy of the daycare center here. This morning it still looked awful, just so awful.

So what are my boundaries in this situation? Obviously I could have chose not to drop my son off and miss work......as now I risk getting a sick kid, a $150 doctors visit, and THEN missing work due to child's illness. I also clearly can not monitor the health of the other 7 children in his class (or the 100 children in the center) each day either...
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Blackcat31 10:38 AM 01-23-2017
Yes, conjunctivitous IS pink eye

http://www.hennepin.us/-/media/henne...fact.pdf?la=en
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happymom 11:28 AM 01-23-2017
What would you do in my case?

Would it be rude of me to question the daycare's illness policy? Or should I just let them make the call and trust their call?

I mean, it's not a life or death thing, but I don't want a sick kid either
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daycarediva 11:44 AM 01-23-2017
maybe point out to the director that conjuntivitis IS pink eye and ask if the child has been on antibiotic eye drops for a minimum of 24 hours?

I got pink eye as an adult and even after 24 hours of antibiotics, my eyes looked awful.
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Blackcat31 12:03 PM 01-23-2017
Originally Posted by happymom:
What would you do in my case?

Would it be rude of me to question the daycare's illness policy? Or should I just let them make the call and trust their call?

I mean, it's not a life or death thing, but I don't want a sick kid either
I would talk to the Director and I'd ask for more info as if I were merely wondering what makes this situation different from others and to see if it is common to not exclude for conjunctivitis. IMHO, I think it's highly contagious and would be something I would WANT to exclude for.

Originally Posted by daycarediva:
maybe point out to the director that conjuntivitis IS pink eye and ask if the child has been on antibiotic eye drops for a minimum of 24 hours?

I got pink eye as an adult and even after 24 hours of antibiotics, my eyes looked awful.
Sometimes the conjunctivitis though is viral and doesn't require antibiotics. I'm finding that its common for schools not to exclude for this BUT I am also assuming it's because kids that age know how to keep their hands from their faces and to wash them. kwim?

Otherwise, in my experience it's fairly common for the little ones to have viral conjunctivitis more so than bacterial but I don't know if that is just me...
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mommyneedsadayoff 12:35 PM 01-23-2017
There is also an allergy form of pink eye that is not contagious, so I would just ask the director.
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happymom 03:14 PM 01-23-2017
I addressed it with the director.

Was told that they are in contact with the parent and under doctor supervision/medicated for it and not running a fever (is fever associated with pink eye?)

Hmph. I'm still gonna hold my breath that my boy doesn't catch it
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Blackcat31 06:22 AM 01-24-2017
Originally Posted by happymom:
I addressed it with the director.

Was told that they are in contact with the parent and under doctor supervision/medicated for it and not running a fever (is fever associated with pink eye?)

Hmph. I'm still gonna hold my breath that my boy doesn't catch it
The pdf attachment I posted above says:

Contagious while symptoms are present.
Below are the symptoms:

Redness, itching, pain and discharge, depending on the cause.
Bacterial conjunctivitis can sometimes be distinguished from other forms of conjunctivitis by a more purulent (pus) discharge


However under exclusion it says:

For Childcares and Schools:

Purulent conjunctivitis(redness of eyes and/or eyelids with thick white or yellow eye discharge and eye pain): Until examined by a health care provider and approved for readmission.

Nonpurulent conjunctivitis (redness of eyes with a clear, watery eye discharge but without fever, eye pain, or eyelid redness): None, may be considered if child is
unable to keep hands away from eyes.


So to me it looks like it's pretty much up to the center to exclude or not exclude. It appears there are many loopholes and/or exceptions

I exclude. Its too contagious for my comfort.
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daycarediva 10:17 AM 01-24-2017
I see the apparent loopholes that BC has posted about, and I honestly exclude for it. I would probably tell the director that although you respect her judgement, you still disagree due to the high level of contagion.

BC- our school district doesn't exclude for it, either. They only call a parent to pick up as a 'suggestion' now. They're even letting kids stay in the nurses office if they're actively vomiting. No longer exclude for unexplained rashes, we have had more lice notes home (no longer exclude for that or nits) tea tree oil in our shampoo and knock on wood we haven't gotten that, pink eye (ds got this), strep (got this) (no min antibiotic times) and they increased their fever limit from 100.5 to 101. They also took the sinks out of the classrooms (kids were washing hands frequently) because water testing found lead. So, it's cheaper to just cap them. BUT, never mind the 2 MILLION dollar football field/automatic scoreboard/stadium seating/4 person restroom/heated concession stand they just put in.
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Cat Herder 10:34 AM 01-24-2017
Here the usual policy is to exclude bacterial conjunctivitis until they have been on treatment for 24 hours. Cream, drops, etc.

Viral and allergic forms can attend after doctors visit confirming it is not bacterial. Antibiotics only breed superbugs in this scenario.

I would also be curious if this is an employees kid.
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hwichlaz 06:00 PM 01-24-2017
According to our pediatrician.....conjunctivitis just means infection of the lining of the conjuntiva. It has more than one cause. Viral pink eye is SUPER contagious but goes away on it's own in 3-5 days. Bacterial isn't very contagious...and is usually caused by bacteria being wiped into the eye by dirty hands....it needs antibiotic drops. The problem is, that without culturing it you can't tell what kind it is. If it's viral, it'll be better on it's own by the time the test comes back anyway. So in general it all gets treated like it's bacterial, and kids are excluded from care as if it's viral.

So the kid should be staying home until symptoms are at least almost gone....OR it's responding to treatment. Bacterial pink eye gets dramatically better in about 24 hours after starting treatment.
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happymom 08:36 AM 01-25-2017
I saw the child in question this morning and she looked MUCH BETTER!

Still watching my kid for symptoms, just in case =) but he seems to be in the clear so far.
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Tags:conjunctivitis, pink eye
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