Croup

[daycare]

Just got a call that one of my kids was just diagnosed with Croup. Is this something serious? Child is 3.5 years old

I have never even heard of that...

Help, what do I need to do? Do I need to tell all my families and what do I need to do to clean?

[sharlan]

My grandson gets this twice every winter. He generally ends up on prednisone. I believe it is generally caused by a bacterial infection, but can be caused by viral.

The cough is nasty at night, sounds just like a seal barking.

I just treat like a bad cold and wash everything down that he plays with and spray lysol. No one else ever seems to get sick at the same time, including the other little ones.

We were just talking about it last night, saying it's that time of year.

[e.j.]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001955/

My kids used to get it all the time. It sounds awful when they cough - like a seal barking - but is usually a relatively mild illness. I usually let the parents know if someone in the day care has been diagnosed with it and do my usual sanitizing but I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[daycare]

ugh...well glad to hear its not life threatening.

I tired to google it, but I got a lot of mixed jargon.

thanks for responding.

Do I need to tell the other families?

[sharlan]

Do you tell the parents when somebody has a bad cold?

I wouldn't make a big issue out of it, just say Johnny couldn't join us today. He has croup.

My 4 yo gets it twice a year, but the 3 and 6 yo never get sick at the same time.

He is generally treated with prednisone and gets breathing treatments with a nebulizer.

[Cat Herder]

It is secondary swelling of the trachea after a respiratory infection. The preferred treatment is damp, cool air AFTER treating the initial infection.

Not a biggie... Just disinfect like you would for a cold.

[Blackcat31]

Provider info:

http://www.hennepin.us/files/HennepinUS/HSPHD/Public%20Health%20Protection/Epidemiology/Daycare%20Manual/1250_s6CROUP.pdf

Parent info:

http://www.hennepin.us/files/HennepinUS/HSPHD/Public%20Health%20Protection/Epidemiology/Daycare%20Manual/1255_Croup%20parent.pdf

[daycare]

Provider info:

http://www.hennepin.us/files/HennepinUS/HSPHD/Public%20Health%20Protection/Epidemiology/Daycare%20Manual/1250_s6CROUP.pdf

Parent info:
http://www.hennepin.us/files/Hennepi...p%20parent.pdf

I love this...where did you get it?

[Blackcat31]

I love this...where did you get it?

We were issued a whole book of these provider and parent fact sheets. I happen to stumble across the web site for it one day and found it had all the sheets on-line in pdf. versions.

Here is the link to the whole site. Just scroll down until you find what you need. Illnesses are listed alphabetically.

http://www.hennepin.us/portal/site/HennepinUS/menuitem.b1ab75471750e40fa01dfb47ccf06498/?vgnextoid=6f674f3d00054210VgnVCM10000049114689RCRD

Granted, it is for my state but I highly doubt common illnesses vary that much from state to state...iykwim?

[daycare]

We were issued a whole book of these provider and parent fact sheets. I happen to stumble across the web site for it one day and found it had all the sheets on-line in pdf. versions.

Here is the link to the whole site. Just scroll down until you find what you need. Illnesses are listed alphabetically.

http://www.hennepin.us/portal/site/HennepinUS/menuitem.b1ab75471750e40fa01dfb47ccf06498/?vgnextoid=6f674f3d00054210VgnVCM10000049114689RCRD

Granted, it is for my state but I highly doubt common illnesses vary that much from state to state...iykwim?

awesome...thanks so much for posting this link. I have been asking my county health coordinator for YEARS for something like this...

I just sent it out to all of my DCF via email....

[Christian Mother]

Last yr one of my little guys got it...he had to be on a neutralizer and a antibiotic it was that bad. He had a low grade fever at daycare and I send him home for it bc his cough was awful. Croup is contagious so I would tell the parents.

This being the first time I ever delt with Croup. I didn't know what to expect or what the incubation period was for it. 3-5 days I think but as long as there is no longer a low grade fever I'd take him back. Just make sure that you continue to sterilizing everything bc even when he's coughing he's spreading germs. It pretty much got ever child in my care sick. None as bad as him but all of them ended up with ear infections and a bronchitis type of cough. It took weeks and the other little boy a month or so for his cough to be gone.

[sharlan]

Last yr one of my little guys got it...he had to be on a neutralizer and a antibiotic it was that bad. He had a low grade fever at daycare and I send him home for it bc his cough was awful. Croup is contagious so I would tell the parents.

This being the first time I ever delt with Croup. I didn't know what to expect or what the incubation period was for it. 3-5 days I think but as long as there is no longer a low grade fever I'd take him back. Just make sure that you continue to sterilizing everything bc even when he's coughing he's spreading germs. It pretty much got ever child in my care sick. None as bad as him but all of them ended up with ear infections and a bronchitis type of cough. It took weeks and the other little boy a month or so for his cough to be gone.

What is a neutralizer?

[daycare]

What is a neutralizer?

i thought it was a shoe at first....I think she meant Nebulizer ( I cant spell it )
breathing treatment machine

[Michael]

Just got a call that one of my kids was just diagnosed with Croup. Is this something serious? Child is 3.5 years old

I have never even heard of that...

Help, what do I need to do? Do I need to tell all my families and what do I need to do to clean?

Our son got it all the time. It sounds worse then it is. Nothing to worry about although there is a certain superinfection that sounds the same but is dangerous. This condition is called bacterial tracheitis and requires hospitalization and intravenous antibiotics. If the epiglottis becomes infected, the entire windpipe can swell shut, a potentially fatal condition called epiglottitis..

[Crazy8]

my DS and one of my daycare kids both had it a few weeks ago. DS always got it at the change of seasons when he was younger but hasn't gotten it in a few years so I was alittle surprised when he got it this year. My dr. prescribes a steroid med (orapred) for 3 days, some just give a shot I believe.