Staying Healthy in Child Care - National Health and Medical ...

Blood
Some infections are spread when blood from an infected person comes into direct contact
through broken or abraded skin or with the mucous membranes of another person. The
transmission of these infections is extremely unlikely in the child care setting.
Examples…
• Hepatitis B • Hepatitis C
• Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
4. The next person becomes infected
When the germ has reached the next person it must find a way to enter the body. It can
enter through the mouth, intestinal tract, nose, lungs, mucosa of eyes, genitals or through
a sore or broken and abraded skin. Whether a person develops illness after this germ has
entered the body depends on both the germ and the person’s immunity. We can prevent
illness at this stage by preventing entry to the body (for example, by making sure all toys
that children put in their mouths are clean, washing children’s hands, covering wounds)
and by immunisation.
How easily are diseases spread in a child care centre
Some viruses such as measles and norovirus are very infectious and will very easily
infect non-immune people. Measles virus can remain airborne for up to 2 hours after a
person has left a room so that further people are exposed. Norovirus is a very common
cause of diarrhoea and can infect 50% or more of people in a group.
At the other end of the extreme, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV are very difficult to
spread in a child care setting.
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