General Health
The ISG nursing offices are staffed by registered nurses during the school day. In addition to assessing and treating illnesses and injuries, and referring to other medical professionals, the nurses are a source of healthcare information.
If a student or staff member requires urgent medical attention after hours, the security personnel are the designated staff who will assist in notifying emergency services.
Parents are required to submit a copy of their child's vaccine records and complete the ISG Health Inventory and Medical Form. This details a child's medical history and any issues which may affect their health or academic performance. The nursing office respects patient confidentiality at all times except when this puts the individual or the community at risk.
Common childhood illnesses and afflictions occur frequently at schools, especially among younger children, and rarely require exclusion. If several children in a class or grade share symptoms there may be a class email to alert parents.
In the case of certain communicable illnesses, the school must be informed immediately. These include chicken pox, measles, rubella, mumps, whooping cough, scarlet fever, food poisoning, impetigo, and scabies. Your child must be kept at home until the infection resolves or ceases to be contagious (please contact one of the nurses for advice). Students recovering from viral illness should not return to school until they are able to handle the full program.
ISG nurses will conduct annual hearing and vision screening at a minimum, for all KG students and every other year for alternate grades through gr 8 (Hearing Gr 1, 3, 5, 7 and vision Gr 2, 4, 6, 8) and as needed by teacher referral.
Parents should be aware that all ISG personnel are mandated reporters in cases of child abuse or neglect. Click here to read ISG's Child Protection Handbook.
Common Childhood Illnesses
- Asthma
- Bites and stings
- Common cold
- Chickenpox
- Conjunctivitis ('pink eye')
- Flu
- Hand, foot, and mouth disease
- Head lice
- Impetigo
- Norovirus
- Ringworm
- Strep throat
Travel Health Resources
If you are traveling to another country, we recommend that inform yourself of potential travel health issues. Listed below are websites that provide traveler health information. Many diseases and conditions related to traveling can be avoided by being informed and prepared. The links below provide up-to-date information regarding disease outbreaks, news, advice and country-specific vaccine recommendations.
General info and destination-specific advice:
US: Centers for Disease Control Travel Health Website
UK:
Canada: IAMAT - International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers
Worldwide: World Health Organization
Travel Warnings
You may want to consult one of the following websites regarding current travel warnings.
For health-related travel warnings, see the CDC Travel Warnings.
Advice on Staying Healthy for the International Traveler
The CDC advises on the below topics on their website
- Animal Safety
- Bug Bites
- Cold Climates
- High Altitudes
- Hot Climates
- Travel Survival Guide
- STDs
- Sun Exposure
- Swimming and Diving
- Tick Bites
- Natural Disasters
- Food and Water Safety
- Travelers' Diarrhea
- Water Disinfection
- Fish Poisoning in Travelers: Ciguatera and Scombroid
Vaccine Information
As a condition for attendance, ISG requires that children be vaccinated against the following diseases with appropriately spaced immunizations.
Students ages 4+:
- At least 4 doses DTaP
- At least 4 doses polio (IPV or OPV)
- 2 doses MMR (measles/mumps/rubella)
- BCG (usually given at birth) or Mantoux/TB skin test in past 12 months
- MCV4 (quadrivalent meningitis vaccine) vaccine in past 5 years
- Hep A vaccine (2 doses)
- Hep B vaccIne (3 doses)
- Varicella vaccine (2 doses) or proof of disease history
Little Learners/Nursery students are expected to be up-to-date according to their home country childhood immunization schedule, AND to have received BCG or TB, and a quadrivalent meningitis vaccine.
ISG recommends that in addition to our required vaccines, parents have their child vaccinated in accordance with their home country and the vaccines recommended by the Saudi Ministry of Health.
We also recommend parents consider re-vaccinating their children every five years with the MCV4 vaccine while in Kingdom.
ISG recommends that in addition to the required vaccines, parents have their child vaccinated in accordance with their home country.
Country-specific vaccine schedules
