As the cold weather descends across Australia, so too does the cold and flu season. During winter, it is important to remember that sick children bring with them a danger to other students. Diseases other than cold and flu viruses can also pose a danger in the classroom at this time of the year when childrens' immune systems are weakened. In this circumstance schools should be aware of their legal obligations as well as common-sense measures they should be taking.

Recently, the issue of vaccinations amongst children has also been back in the spotlight. It has been reported that a fourth person in Western Australia has been diagnosed with meningococcal disease. With fears that the whooping cough vaccine may be losing its effectiveness, health officials are worried about the increasing numbers of children being afflicted by infectious diseases.  These recent outbreaks provide a timely reminder to schools to revisit their infectious diseases policies and check that all staff are vaccinated and trained to recognise the symptoms of disease amongst their students.

In some Australian states, it is a legal requirement that the Principal of a school notifies the relevant health authorities when a student is suffering from a disease such as meningococcal or measles. As we reported in January, the rate of measles cases are increasing across Australia.  These diseases also present a workplace health and safety risk to teachers and staff at schools.

Primary Schools are also required under Public Health Acts in most States and Territories to request and record the immunisation status of children being enrolled. These records must also be stored in a manner compliant with the new privacy laws (which you can read more about in our whitepaper).  Schools should ensure that their student medical records are up to date so that in the event of an outbreak of an infectious disease, non-vaccinated children can be identified quickly and told to stay home if necessary.

The proper management of infectious diseases requires a policy with some key features. These include:

• clear guidelines for managing the diseases;
• staff training on how to recognise infectious diseases;
• instructions on how to notify the relevant health authorities, in compliance with legal obligations; and
• maintenance of records of student immunisations.

The approach that a sick child should simply be sent home is no longer a sufficient default policy. As schools have a special place in the community, and are responsible for both the health of sick and healthy students, they have additional obligations under law.

Do you have an infectious disease policy in place?  Have your staff been fully immunised?