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Group A Streptococcus and scarlet fever
Communications tips and templates for schools responding to Group A Streptococcus and scarlet fever
Over the past couple of days, Pharos have received a number of calls from client schools requesting support in responding to a ‘positive case’ of ‘Strep A’ (Group A Streptococcus) or scarlet fever.
It has felt rather eerily like February 2020, when client schools turned to Pharos for H&S, risk assessment and communications advice in response to early positive Covid-19 cases.
In response to the rising cases of ‘Strep A’ related illnesses, Pharos have quickly provided affected client schools with general H&S advice and draft communications for parents and the press specific to their situation. As it is likely that more schools will be seeking similar support in responding to this developing situation, we have prepared some generic template communications that may be of use to all.
The following tips are in regard to communicating within the school community in response to this situation as it currently stands, based upon information from the NHS and public health professionals who must be used as the source of guidance and advice. Where there are official communication templates published from the Department for Education or the local Health Protection Team, these should be used and adapted for the situation.
Some tips for schools communicating during the current situation
- The most serious ‘invasive’ cases of Strep A / scarlet fever infections are reportedly very rare but they are less rare than they have been in previous years since the last spike in 2014. Therefore, your response should be proportionate but understanding of the concern that news of these cases will cause.
- Balanced communication and education will help prevent a panicked response (see templates below) and keep children where they belong in school whilst official guidance supports this.
- There are various medical terms being used commonly – and sometimes interchangeably in the media i.e. Strep A, iGAS, Strep throat, scarlet fever etc. Schools should therefore ensure that they use the correct terms to avoid subsequent operational and communication challenges for the school.
- Communication with staff members will be key to ensure they are kept up to date with the school’s actions in order to suitably answer questions from parents and pupils.
- Schools will no doubt be reinstating some of the Covid respiratory, cough and hand hygiene practices to help reduce the spread of germs in school (see below) and this along with the following actions could be included within your communications to parents.
- Schools may be considering the cleaning of high frequency touch surfaces again (tabletops, taps, handles etc) with a suitable antibacterial cleanser.
- If you still have hand sanitising stations in place, these might be refilled with alcohol-based sanitising gel and pupils and staff could be reminded to wash hands with soap and warm water.
- Communicate openly and transparently with parents about what the school is doing and the symptoms parents should look out for (see templates below). These should always be sourced from the NHS or other official information provided by the local Health Protection Team.
- This situation is likely to develop over the coming weeks and advice may change, so ensure you remain up to date with changes in guidance for schools and update parents accordingly.
- The likelihood of your school suffering a very serious case is very low but if this does happen, the media interest will be significant while this remains in the spotlight. So consider reviewing your critical incident plans and media response preparedness (Pharos Response can assist where necessary).
- Don’t forget to inform your local Health Protection Team if there are two or more cases within 10 days as this is the current definition of a scarlet fever ‘outbreak’. Parents will need to be updated on this, including any potential impact this may have on school routine, such as for deep cleaning.
Links to official guidance
At the time of writing, there is not currently a huge amount of guidance specifically for schools but the following list will no doubt grow over the coming hours, days and weeks:
https://www.nth.nhs.uk/content/uploads/2017/09/IPC473.1-Group-A-Streptococcal-Infection-22.08.17.pdf
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/group-a-streptococcal-infections-guidance-and-data
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/scarlet-fever-managing-outbreaks-in-schools-and-nurseries
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/scarlet-fever/
Template emails for schools to send to parents
Email for parents of schools with no positive cases
Dear Parent / Carer,
As a school, we are of course aware of reports in the news about Strep A and scarlet fever and while there are increased cases around the country in comparison to recent years, it remains very rare for people to get extremely sick from these. Whilst we are waiting for official Department for Education guidance, we are reinstating some of the basic hygiene measures that were so familiar during COVID in order to help reduce the general spread of germs throughout the school at this time of year.
My colleagues are reminding pupils of the following measures in school and we would welcome you reinforcing these measures at home.
Respiratory and cough hygiene. The old saying of “coughs and sneezes spread diseases” is a reminder of the importance of the following aspects:
- cover nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing and sneezing, dispose of used tissue in a waste bin, and clean hands
- cough or sneeze into the inner elbow (upper sleeve) if no tissues are available, rather than into the hand
- keep hands away from your eyes, mouth and nose after sneezing or coughing.
Hand hygiene
- Wash hands more frequently with warm water and soap, as well as after using the bathroom and before eating.
- Use hand sanitizer gel if it is difficult to wash with soap and water.
As a school, we will be increasing the frequency of cleaning around common touch points, such as table tops, handles and taps.
Symptoms and what to look for
The official guidance for Strep A is developing but the information on scarlet fever can be found on the NHS and UK Health & Security Agency websites, ‘Scarlet fever is usually a mild illness, but it is highly infectious. Therefore, look out for symptoms in your child, which include a sore throat, headache, and fever, along with a fine, pinkish or red body rash with a sandpapery feel. On darker skin, the rash can be more difficult to detect visually but will have a sandpapery feel.
If your child has scarlet fever, keep them at home until at least 24 hours after the start of antibiotic treatment to avoid spreading the infection to others’. Early treatment of scarlet fever with antibiotics is important to reduce the risk of complications.
Contact NHS 111 or your GP if:
Call 999 or go to A&E if:
Complications to be aware of |
In line with the current official guidance, we request that any children who are confirmed to have Strep A stay at home until 24-hours after antibiotic treatment has started and please inform the school ASAP. Otherwise, your child would be expected to attend school as normal and follow our sickness and absence policy.
Please refer to the school sickness and absence policy that you can find on our website here <INSERT LINK>.
We will send more information as we receive it but in the meantime, if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact the school reception as normal.
Yours sincerely,
Email for parents of a school with confirmation of a Strep A / scarlet fever case in school
Please adapt the following template to your setting and severity of individual cases and the number.
Dear Parent / Carer,
We have been made aware that <a child / X children> in Year <X>has tested positive for Strep A / specific infection type i.e scarlet fever and is/are currently <at home with medication / in hospital in a stable condition / receiving treatment / in intensive care>. Of course we are in regular contact with their <family/families> and our thoughts and well wishes are with them all. <If two or more cases confirmed within 10 days include the following…> We are also liaising with the local health protection team to ensure all official guidance is followed.
Clearly it would not be right for us to share an individual’s medical information, but we do want to let you know what the school is doing in response and provide you with some further information. The health and welfare of our children is and will always remain our greatest priority.
In order to help prevent the general spread of germs in school, we will be reintroducing some sensible measures practised during Covid around respiratory, cough and hand hygiene (see below).
Reducing the spread of germs in our school
Respiratory and cough hygiene. The old saying of “coughs and sneezes spread diseases” is a reminder of the importance of the following basic measures:
- cover nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing and sneezing, dispose of used tissue in a waste bin and clean hands
- cough or sneeze into the inner elbow (upper sleeve) if no tissues are available, rather than into the hand
- keep hands away from your eyes, mouth and nose after sneezing or coughing.
Hand hygiene
- Wash hands more frequently with warm water and soap, as well as after using the bathroom and before eating.
- Use hand sanitizer gel if it is difficult to wash with soap and water.
Cleaning routine
We will be increasing the frequency and intensity of cleaning around common touch points, such as table tops, handles and taps.
Symptoms and what to look for
The official guidance for Strep A is developing but the information on scarlet fever can be found on the NHS and UK Health & Security Agency websites, ‘Scarlet fever is usually a mild illness, but it is highly infectious. Therefore, look out for symptoms in your child, which include a sore throat, headache, and fever, along with a fine, pinkish or red body rash with a sandpapery feel. On darker skin, the rash can be more difficult to detect visually but will have a sandpapery feel.
If your child has scarlet fever, keep them at home until at least 24 hours after the start of antibiotic treatment to avoid spreading the infection to others’. Early treatment of scarlet fever with antibiotics is important to reduce the risk of complications.
Contact NHS 111 or your GP if:
Call 999 or go to A&E if:
Complications to be aware of |
In line with the current official guidance, we request that any children who are confirmed to have Strep A stay at home until 24-hours after antibiotic treatment has started and please inform the school ASAP. Otherwise, your child would be expected to attend school as normal and follow our sickness and absence policy.
We hope this information is helpful and we will of course keep you updated of any developments or new official guidance.
Yours sincerely,
Of course, schools who subscribe to the Pharos 24/7 incident support service can call upon the support of the Pharos team for specific guidance on this matter and any others facing the school. If you don’t already subscribe but would like to for just £1.35 per pupil on roll, more details are available here.
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