Should I Bring My Sick Child to School?

Frequently as parents we have to decide when our child is "sick enough" to stay home instead of attending school. The following information will be helpful to you when you need to make a decision regarding attendance at school. If your child has any of the following conditions they should not attend school that day:

• Fever (temperature of 100.4 or greater). When we are ill, our bodies will increase body temperature to fight the infection. Unfortunately, it is the time in which we are the most contagious and spread the illness to others.
• Vomiting. Many times vomiting is due to a viral illness which can be easily transmitted to others, therefore students should not attend school.
• Diarrhea is loose foul smelling bowel movement which can be caused by a virus and can also be easily spread to other people.
• Conjunctivitis (Pink eye) is a condition that can be caused by allergies, viruses, irritants, or bacteria. Your family doctor needs to examine your child to determine the cause of the conjunctivitis. Bacterial conjunctivitis is contagious and must be treated promptly to prevent spreading of the infection to you, family members and others.
• Strep infection symptoms may appear suddenly and include sore throat, fever, general feeling of illness, redness, and swelling in the throat. If your child has been diagnosed with strep, he/she should not attend school until they have had at least 24 hours of antibiotic therapy.
• Parasitic infections - these include ringworm, scabies, and head lice. Both ringworm and scabies must be treated for at least 24 hours before returning to school. Additionally, any child that has head lice must be treated and have all nits removed from the hair before they can return to school. The student must also be checked by the school nurse before they can return to class.    

Although the list is not all inclusive, it covers the majority of illness seen in the school setting. The faculty and staff encourage students to attend school every day, but recognize that sometimes children are not able to attend school. I hope this information is useful and I encourage you to contact me for concerns or questions~~