Advice...please

[NathalieB]

Hi

So I watch an almost 3 year old boy twice a week. He did not come today because his baby brother who is 6 weeks old is in the hospital right now. They think the baby might have meningitis. They are just waiting for test results to come back to see exactly what he has. So if his baby brother has meningitis do I tell the parents I can not take care of their older boy because he may contact meningitis from his baby brother and then bring it into my dayhome.

I am not sure what the protocols are on this situation.

Thanks :)

[5 Little Monkeys]

http://www.webmd.com/children/vaccines/meningitis-12-frequently-asked-questions


I would tell the parents that I couldn't offer care to the older boy for the safety of the other children. Here, they all share utensils (and I don't have a dishwasher to properly sterilize them daily) and they all cough and sneeze on each other and put toys in their mouth. I wouldn't be comfortable with it.

[Spixie33]

The doctors would not mess around with meningitis. They would treat the sibling for any possible exposure and the whole family if it was a contagious type.

I would wait until the diagnosis comes down but I am sure the family will tell you that the sibling has already been checked or treated if they really thought there was a risk or whether there was a risk of transmitting it.

One of my classmates died of meningitis in grade school and they treated the whole school body for it just to be safe. It is not something that the doctors tend to gamble with.

I really hope everything goes well for the baby and that the family has answers soon.