Prevention Measures
Standard Cryptosporidiosis (Crypto) Control Measures for the Child Care Setting
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To stop Cryptosporidium from spreading in the child care setting:
- Educate staff and parents
- Inform all staff about the symptoms of Crypto, how infection is spread, and control measures to be followed.
- Inform parents about the symptoms of Crypto, how infection is spread, outbreak control policies, and needed changes in hygiene and cleanliness.
- Notify parents of children who have been in direct contact with a child or an adult caregiver with diarrhea. Parents should contact the child's healthcare provider if their child develops diarrhea.
- Inform staff and parents of children about Crypto’s potential to be a severe disease in people with weakened immune systems. Immunocompromised persons should consult their healthcare provider for further guidance.
- Exclude any child with diarrhea from the child care setting until the diarrhea has stopped.
- Children who are infected with the parasite but who do not have diarrhea may be allowed to return.
- Recently returning children can be grouped together in one classroom to minimize exposing uninfected children to the parasite.
- Move adults with diarrhea to jobs that minimize opportunities for spreading infection (for example, administrative work instead of food preparation).
- Establish, implement, and enforce policies on water-play and swimming that
- Exclude children ill with diarrhea from water-play and swimming activities.
- Exclude children diagnosed with Crypto from water-play and swimming activities for an additional 2 weeks after their diarrhea has resolved.
- Discourage children from getting the water in their mouths and swallowing it.
- Have children and staff wash their hands before using water tables.
- Have children and staff shower with soap before swimming in the water.
- If a child is too young to shower independently, have staff wash the child, particularly the rear end, with soap and water.
- Take frequent bathroom breaks or check their diapers often.
- Change children’s diapers in a diaper-changing area or bathroom and not by the water.
- Prohibit the use of temporary inflatable or rigid fill-and-drain swimming pools and slides because they can spread germs in child-care facilities.
- Practice good hygiene.
- Reinforce frequent hand washing and good hand washing technique for all children and adults.
- Good hand washing means
- Wet your hands with clean running water and apply soap. Use warm water if it is available.
- Rub hands together to make a lather and scrub all surfaces, including under the fingernails.
- Continue rubbing hands for 20 seconds. Need a timer? Imagine singing “Happy Birthday” twice through to a friend!
- Rinse hands well under running water.
- Dry your hands using a disposable paper towel or a hand dryer.
- Use your disposable paper towel, if possible, to turn off the faucet.
- For children
- Observe hand washing or assist when needed.
- Wash children’s hands when they first arrive at the child care facility, after they use the toilet, after having their diapers changed, and before eating snacks or meals.
- For adults
- Wash hands after using the toilet, after helping a child use the toilet, after diapering a child, and before handling or eating food. Note: Where staffing permits, people who change diapers should not prepare or serve food.
- Reinforce good diapering practices.
- Separate diaper-changing areas from children’s play and food preparation areas.
- Use disposable gloves and change them after each diaper change.
- Use disposable paper over diaper-changing surfaces and change it after each diaper change.
- Ensure children wear clothing over their diapers to reduce the opportunity for leakage.
- Wash hands: both yours and the child’s after each diaper change.
- Disinfect surfaces and objects, including but not limited to bathrooms, diaper-changing areas, food-preparation areas, tabletops, high chairs, and toys.
- otify the state or local health department about an excessive level of diarrhea or any Crypto cases in the child-care facility. Crypto is a nationally reportable disease.
Page last modified: October 27, 2008
Page last reviewed: October 27, 2008
Content Source: Division of Parasitic Diseases (DPD)
National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne, and Enteric Diseases (ZVED)
Page last reviewed: October 27, 2008
Content Source: Division of Parasitic Diseases (DPD)
National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne, and Enteric Diseases (ZVED)