When are your kids too sick to go to school
January 4, 2018
We have all been there, asking ourselves when should we send our kids to school and when should we keep them home?
Students should be excluded from school if they exhibit:
- Fever greater than 100.5 degrees
- Vomiting
- Stiff neck or a headache with fever
- Any rash with or without fever
- Unusual behavior change, such as irritability, lethargy, or somnolence
- Jaundice (yellow color or skin or eyes)
- Diarrhea (three watery or loose stools in one day with or without fever)
- Skin lesions that are “weepy” (fluid or pus-filled)
- Colored drainage from eyes
- Brown/green drainage from nose with fever of greater than 100.5 degrees
- Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath; serious, sustained cough
- Symptoms or complaints that prevent the student from participating in his/her usual school activities, such as a persistent cough, (with or without the presence of fever) or if the student requires more care that the school staff can safely provide.
It’s probably OK to go back to school when:
- Temperature below 100 degrees (orally) for a minimum of 24 hours without the use of Tylenol or other fever-reducing medicine
- Rash disappears and you get written or phone consent from doctor to school nurse
- Discharge must be gone or the student must have a written or phone consent from doctor to the school nurse
- Symptom-free of vomiting or diarrhea for 24 hours.
- Symptom-free or student must have been on antibiotics for 24 hours or have a written or phone consent from doctor to the school nurse. Antibiotics are not effective for viral illnesses. When antibiotics are prescribed for bacterial infections, take all medications as prescribed until gone.
- Written or phone consent from doctor to school nurse (concerning stools, urine or discolored skin or eyes)
For more information, call your child’s school directly and they will be able to provide you their policy!
DON’T FORGET TO KEEP THE LITTLE ONES WASHING THEIR HANDS!