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Conjunctivitis - infective - Management
What advice should I give about excluding children with infective conjunctivitis from school and childcare centres?

  • Advise parents that it is not necessary to exclude a child from school or childcare if they have infective conjunctivitis, unless there is an outbreak of infective conjunctivitis. Then, advice should be sought from the Health Protection Agency by the school or childcare centre. This advice is included in Health Protection Agency (pdf) guidance on infection control in schools and other childcare settings.
Basis for recommendation

These recommendations are based upon advice issued by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) [HPA, 2006b].

  • Attendance at school results in children catching and spreading numerous mild, self-limiting, infectious illnesses. The HPA does not recommend excluding children with infective conjunctivitis from school because:
    • It is widely accepted that it is not desirable to exclude children from schools or childcare centres with other mild infectious illnesses (such as the common cold). There is no more reason to exclude children with infectious conjunctivitis than to exclude a child with a common cold.
    • The requirement to exclude a child until they have received a topical ocular antibiotic is equally flawed as there is no evidence to suggest that this reduces their risk of spreading infection, especially when infective conjunctivitis often has a viral cause.

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