West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 126 - Education › Title 126 - LEGISLATIVE RULE BOARD OF EDUCATION › Series 126-051 - Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (2423) › Section 126-51-4 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
4.1. ACIP is
				defined as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for
				Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S. Department of Health and Human
				Services, which is the principal agency in the United States government for
				protecting the health and safety of all Americans and for providing essential
				human services, especially for those people who are least able to help
				themselves. CDC remains at the forefront of public health efforts to prevent
				and control infectious and chronic diseases, injuries, workplace hazards,
				disabilities and environmental health threats.
4.2. Airborne Pathogens are defined as the
				transmission of infectious agents through either airborne droplet nuclei
				(small-particle residue [five flim or smaller in size] of evaporated droplets
				that may remain suspended in the air for long periods of time) or dust
				particles containing infectious agents. These pathogens include but are not
				limited to tuberculosis (TB), rubella (measles) and varicella
				(chickenpox).
4.3. Airborne
				Precautions are not normally utilized in the school setting. It is defined as
				the isolation of an airborne pathogen to reduce the risk of airborne
				transmission of infectious agents. Airborne precautions entail wearing a
				respiratory protection mask (N95 respirator) when entering the room of a
				student receiving home/hospital instruction with known or suspected disease
				transmitted via airborne droplet nuclei, student placement in private hospital
				room with negative air pressure and placing a mask on the student for hospital
				transporting.
4.4. American Academy
				of Pediatrics also known as the AAP, is defined as a national organization of
				pediatricians, founded in 1930, committed to the attainment of optimal
				physical, mental, and social health and well-being for all infants, children,
				adolescents, and young adults.
4.5.
				Blood Borne Pathogens means pathogenic microorganisms that are present in human
				blood and can cause disease in humans. These pathogens include, but are not
				limited to, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acquired immunodeficiency
				syndrome (AIDS), hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV).
4.6. Bureau is defined as the Bureau for
				Public Health in the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources and
				is the state agency responsible for establishing vaccine requirements for
				students and best practices for health and wellness.
4.7. Casual Contact means day-to-day
				interaction between individuals and others in the home, at school or in the
				work place. It does not include intimate contact, such as sexual or drug use
				interactions, and it implies closer contact than chance passing in the hallway
				or sharing a lunch table.
4.8.
				Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also known as CDC, is defined as one
				of the eleven major operating divisions of the United States Department of
				Health and Human Services, which is the principal agency in the United States
				government for protecting the health and safety of all Americans and for
				providing essential human services, especially for those people who are least
				able to help themselves. CDC remains at the forefront of public health efforts
				to prevent and control infectious and chronic diseases, injuries, workplace
				hazards, disabilities and environmental health threats.
4.9. Commissioner is defined as the Bureau
				official who serves as State Health Officer as defined in W. Va. Code §
									16-1-2, or
				his or her designee.
4.10.
				Communicable Disease means a disease that may be transmitted directly or
				indirectly from one individual to another.
4.11. Direct Contact means a disease that is
				spread through the exposure of blood and/or body fluids to mucus membranes,
				open skin wounds, semen or intravenous transfusion. HIV/AIDS is spread by
				direct blood transmission into the blood stream of another and by semen or
				vaginal fluid contact. Hepatitis A can be spread by direct or indirect contact
				with feces while Hepatitis B and C can be spread by direct contact with semen
				and blood. These diseases do not pose a risk in school if body fluids such as
				blood and feces are handled using standard/universal precautions.
4.12. Droplet Contact means contact of the
				conjunctivae or the mucous membranes of the nose or mouth of a susceptible
				person with large-particle droplets (larger than five flim in size) containing
				microorganisms generated from a person who has a clinical disease or who is a
				carrier of the microorganism. Droplets are generated from the source person
				primarily during coughing, sneezing, or talking and during the performance of
				certain procedures such as suctioning. Transmission via large-particle droplets
				requires close contact between source and recipient persons, because droplets
				do not remain suspended in the air and generally travel only short distances,
				usually three feet or less, through the air. These pathogens include, but are
				not limited to, bacterial infections, such as Pertussis (whooping cough),
				streptococcal (group A) pharyngitis, pneumonia or scarlet fever, Diphtheria
				(pharyngeal), Haemophilus influenzae type and Neisseria meningitis disease,
				including meningitis, pneumonia and sepsis. Serious viral infections spread by
				droplet contact include but are not limited to adenovirus, influenza (flu),
				mumps and rubella (German measles).
4.13. Droplet Precautions is defined as
				droplet pathogen isolation utilized around individuals known or suspected to be
				infected with microorganisms transmitted by droplets (large-particle droplets
				[larger than five flim in size] that can be generated by the person during
				coughing, sneezing, talking, or the performance of procedures). Droplet
				precautions entail being in the a private environment, like the student's home,
				wearing a mask while within three feet of the individual infected and utilizing
				standard/universal precautions. Because droplets do not remain suspended in the
				air, special air handling and ventilation are not required to prevent droplet
				transmission. Masks may be worn to protect the health of a student who is
				immunocompromised.
4.14. Health
				Check is the name for West Virginia's Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis
				and Treatment (EPSDT) Program. The EPSDT Program is a child preventive health
				component of Medicaid for children under 21 years of age. An annual
				comprehensive exam is recommended for all children ages 3-20 and more
				frequently if less than three. Health Check meets the requirements for vision,
				hearing, developmental, including speech and language, and oral health or other
				comprehensive health screening comparable to the Health Check protocol. The
				Health Check screening form is the preferred documentation method of licensed
				health care providers to record screenings but forms and electronic
				documentation may vary.
4.15.
				Health or Safety Emergency Situation is determined on a case-by-case basis, and
				is defined as a specific situation that presents imminent danger or threat to
				students or other members of the community, or requires an immediate need for
				information in order to avert or diffuse serious threats to the safety or
				health of a student or other individuals. Any release of confidential medical
				information must be narrowly tailored considering the immediacy and magnitude
				of the emergency and must be made only to parties who can address the specific
				emergency in question. This exception is temporally limited to the period of
				the emergency and generally does not allow a blanket release of personally
				identifiable information from a student's education records to comply with
				general requirements under state law. Certainly an outbreak of diseases, but
				not limited to, chickenpox, whooping cough, herpes gladiatorum and flu, that
				not only pose threat of permanent disability or death for the individual, but
				have historically presented themselves as epidemic in nature. Thus, disclosure
				of personally identifiable information from students' education records to
				state health officials for an outbreak of a communicable disease is permitted
				under health or safety emergency provisions of the Family Educational Rights
				and Privacy Act of 1988 (FERPA) and FERPA: Final Regulations Part II, 34 CFR
				Part 99.
4.16. Immunocompromised is
				defined as reduced immune response due to immunosuppressive drugs, radiation,
				disease or malnutrition.
4.17.
				Legitimate Educational Reason is defined as school officials who have been
				determined to have genuine concern related to the student's educational
				achievement and performance allowing access and review pertinent educational
				records including medical and health information. A record of disclosure must
				be maintained and include:
1) the parties who
				have requested the information from the education records, and
2) the legitimate interests the parties had
				in requesting or obtaining the information.