When is my child too sick for school?
Is Your Child Too Sick for School?
Early in the morning it is often difficult to make a decision about whether or not your child is sick enough to stay home from school. With minor symptoms, you often cannot tell whether he/she is going to get better or worse during the course of the day.
The main reasons for keeping your child home are:
- They are too sick to be comfortable at school.
- They might spread a contagious disease to other children.
As a rule of thumb a child should stay home if he has:
- A fever over 100.4 degrees
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- A very frequent cough
- Persistent pain (ear, stomach, etc.)
- A widespread rash
**Students must be free of fever, vomiting, and diarrhea, for 24-hours without the use of medication, before they can return to school.
Most of these problems need to be discussed with your child's pediatrician to determine if an office visit is needed. Whenever there is a doubt in your mind about sending your child to school, consult your child's doctor before doing so. A phone consultation may be all that is necessary or your child's doctor may need to see the child in the office.
**If your child has frequent complaints of pain that cause school absence, you should consider the possibility that your child is intentionally avoiding school. Bring this to the attention of the child's doctor before a great deal of school has been missed.
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