DNA Got a Kid Kicked Out of School—And It’ll Happen Again

[Stacyrect]

Sounds like it's the parents fault for disclosing information that shouldn't have been disclosed and then going eh my gawd when the school to took a cautious approach. Aside from the whole thing being utterly ridiculous, the cheaper genetic testing becomes the more cases like this will be common. My genetic information from 23andme is just a search warrant away.

[Daethz]

Schools should not have to do anything special based on a childs disability's, the most a school should ever have to do is provide a: a seperate classroom where the mentally disabled can be assisted and b: assistance for motor-disabled children.
A school would have to go to extreme steps to let a child with a severe immune disorder to be in their school and likely be subject to being sued if that child died while in the school due to his own sickness.

So one got kicked out because they could kill eachother if in close proximity? If i was the school id go ahead and do nothing. Just inform both sets of parents of the situation and if both kids die because of their parents bad decisions, well, boo hoo.

Schools should be immune to lawsuits for things caused by bad parents.

[Oktoberfest]

Never tell schools ANYTHING unless it is a severe allergy. Tell your kids to never answer any questions about home.

[Roxtar]

Never tell schools ANYTHING unless it is a severe allergy. Tell your kids to never answer any questions about home.

never ever?

sounds like something abusive parents would tell their kids

[Vanyali]

I dun get it.

Are people with CF made out of fissile material and go critical if too many of them occupy the same space?

People with CF are really, really vulnerable to any cold that would interfere with breathing. Lung function can be down as far as ~30%-40%, so any illness that results in clogged sinuses or lung issues are deadly. Given the low lung function, their immune systems are also heavily compromised, which means they're excellent carriers for any disease nearby. Which means if they hang out with other CF sufferers they're *going* to catch something and it very well could kill them.

As someone else pointed out, public school for a low lung function person seems an awful idea. For someone with a higher lung function it's not as bad, but still a pretty big risk that then skyrockets with multiple CF kids in the same room.

[TirielWoW]

The tricky thing, to me, is that the school nurse apparently disclosed the information (with the child's name) to one or more teachers. That, right there, is a HIPAA violation. It isn't a HIPAA violation for the parents of the other CF kids to be notified that a child in the school has CF/has markers for it, but it is a HIPAA violation for the nurse to have told one or more teachers which child it was. That's a problem.

[Vanyali]

I wasn't aware you are at higher risk of getting an infection from other with CF. How can these kids go to school at all? I mean, you can get the flu from people that themselves don't know they are carriers for Pete's sake.

It's not the CF person is a higher risk to infect, just that they're much more likely to be carrying something due to a lower immune system.

As I said though, it depends on lung function; if you have a high lung function, you won't be as likely to get sick. And the only option to be 100% safe would be home schooling, which not everyone can do (especially not someone with a kid that requires a great deal in medication and doctor's visits), and even then it's not 100% because you yourself are carrying things, as well as limiting exposure for future infections. The law mandates there has to be schooling of some sort and for a lot of people public schooling is the only option available, even with the risks.

[Omega10]

The other parents likely overreacted and said the new kid shouldn't get to attend school with their special sickly snowflakes.

The other parents were protecting their child from possible death. You mock parents for protecting their children, and on this I disagree with you vehemently. The threat is real.

The solutions that are being worked out here are not pretty, especially since everyone involved is sort of figuring things out as they go along.

I wasn't aware you are at higher risk of getting an infection from other with CF. How can these kids go to school at all?

This is the issue people are dealing with. And once one person with CF is already in a class, how do you deal with the possibility of a second person wanting to join that class? If both people have mild cases of it (like the poster who just stayed away from the other child who also had a somewhat mild version of it), then simple solutions are sufficient. In more severe cases it is more problematic.

[Kurioxan]

How is this bad? To have the ability to prevent and plan your life from an early time, having genetic diseases in consideration is an amazing thing, not a bad one.
There are alternatives, just sucks in terms of expenses and the specific country.