When to Keep a Sick Child Home from School

     As a parent, there are undoubtedly times when you are unsure whether your child should go to school.  You need to weigh what he or she will miss and any disruptions of your plans for the day with your child's diminishing ability to learn and potential for transmitting germs to others.  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 a 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 and doctors' visits 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 - Seek medical advice if persists or gets worse (these can be due to viral infections for which only time and rest provide a cure):

• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Fever, headache, muscle ache, fatigue, then congestion, cough and runny nose
• Runny nose, watery eyes, sneezing with or without sore throat or cough that is very runny and prevents the child from sleeping well at night

KEEP HOME FROM SCHOOL - SEEK MEDICAL ADVICE OR CARE:

• Temperature over 100.5°F (with N1H1, temperature over 100°F, per CDC)
• Vomiting that persists more than 1 day
• Diarrhea that lasts more than 1 day with cramping
• 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 cough
• Neck stiffness
• Skin rash with fluid bumps or that spreads from the face area to the trunk and limbs
• White spots inside the mouth or back of the throat
• A sore throat in which swallowing hurts
• Yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes