Too Sick for School?
As a parent, there are times when you are unsure whether your child should attend school. You must also decide when to seek medical care.
As a whole, school-aged children and youth are a healthy, robust group. A student can expect to get 2 to 9 colds per year. Excluding routine doctor appointments, infectious diseases account for 40% of all visits by children and youth to a doctor. The most common childhood infections seen by pediatricians are repeated ear infections, repeated tonsillitis, pneumonia, frequent diarrhea or colitis, bladder or urinary infections, and mononucleosis. These alone account for millions of lost school days each year.
Below is a guide for when to seek immediate care and when to keep your child home from school.
KEEP HOME FROM SCHOOL AND SEEK MEDICAL ADVICE OR CARE:
*Temperature 100 degrees
*Vomiting two or more times in the previous 24 hours
*Diarrhea or stools that contain blood or mucus
*Blister-like lesions, especially if they develop crusted sores with irregular outlines
*Swelling of glands in front and below ears and/or tenderness of the glands in the mouth
*Coughing that is repeated and violent, that lasts for weeks and is often accompanied by thick mucus and vomiting after coughing
*Skin rash with fluid filled bumps or that spreads from the face area to the trunk and limbs
*White spots inside the mouth or back of the throat
*Pink-eye
*Runny nose and congestion if nasal drainage is not clear in color
If your child is sent to the nurse, his or her complaints and symptoms will be evaluated. The nurse will take into consideration his or her ability to learn, classroom disruption and/or concern for the spread of illness. You may be called to pick-up your child even if symptoms differ from those described above.
References:
National Institute of Health 2013 www.nih.gov
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Mayo Clinic 2013