The Ministry of Education in Egypt has issued guidelines to the educational directorates in the provinces for handling respiratory diseases and prevention of certain types that have recently caused fear.
The ministry called on its directorates to disseminate these guidelines and tips in all schools; to prevent viral diseases and particularly the Marburg virus, in order to protect the health and safety of students.
These general school prevention guidelines included:
- Ensuring good ventilation in classrooms and opening windows during the school day.
- Not sharing personal items with classmates such as water bottles, tissues, pens.
- Disinfecting shared surfaces in the classrooms especially doorknobs, desks, and computers daily.
- Advising students to wash their hands with soap and water thoroughly before and after eating and after playing and using the restrooms.
- Maintaining personal hygiene by using tissues when coughing or sneezing and disposing of them immediately.
- Avoiding direct contact with anyone showing severe fever or vomiting or severe diarrhea until a medical examination and evaluation are done as per the doctor's instructions.
The ministry noted that if symptoms appear on suspected cases, the school shall take immediate measures, which are: immediately contacting the guardian to take the student, disinfecting the seating area of the student, monitoring the suspected case and ensuring health status before returning to school, along with submitting a daily report to the educational administration, and crisis management for monitoring and ensuring the health and safety of everyone.
The educational directorates clarified in their directions to schools the symptoms to be aware of to take necessary precautions in case they appear on any of the students, and then the guardian and the health visitor must be notified and the case put in an isolation room until it is safe for them to return to school only after confirming their health safety, and these symptoms are:
- Sudden and severe fever - Strong and persistent headache - Severe stomach or muscle pain - Extreme weakness and unusual fatigue - Bleeding from the nose or gums - Vomiting and diarrhea.
It was emphasized that the appearance of these symptoms does not necessarily mean infection, but they are indicators that require assessment by a qualified doctor to ensure the health and safety of everyone.
The Ministry of Health and Population is expected to hold a press conference tomorrow, Sunday, to announce the details of respiratory viral infections coinciding with the current weather situation, with the presence of Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health and Population.
Recently, the Ministry of Health commented on queries about the reasons for the increase in respiratory diseases, confirming that it is connected with the current weather and the onset of winter, and that it recurs every year around this time, explaining that the most widespread viruses are influenza alongside the new coronavirus variant.
Regarding the Marburg virus, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, confirmed that the relevant authorities are regularly monitoring the epidemic developments around the world, including this virus that has recently spread in Ethiopia, emphasizing that there are no suspected or confirmed cases of the virus within the country.
