[IEP_guide] When is your child too sick to go to school?

[Guest guest]

Passing this on from IEP_guide:

kathyR

***********************************************

When is your child too sick to go to school?

Deciding if a child is just too sick to go to school or child care

can be confusing.

Frequent hand washing

is the best way to prevent most common illnesses. Encourage children

and adults alike to wash hands in warm, soapy water for at least 20

seconds when arriving home; before and after eating; after using the

restroom, diapering, playing outside, petting animals; and before,

during and after food preparation.

Generally, if your child doesn't feel well enough to keep up with

normal school activities and has had a fever accompanied by diarrhea

or vomiting within a 24-hour period, he or she should stay home.

Further, if there is a risk of spreading an illness, such as chicken

pox, mumps or measles, your child should stay home.

Children who have pink eye, impetigo, pinworms, scabies or strep

throat should stay home until they have been under treatment for at

least 24 hours. Children with chicken pox should stay home until all

lesions are dried, usually within six days of onset of the rash.

Children with common colds or runny noses may go to school as long as

they feel well enough to attend.

This information, contributed by Amy (MS Indiana University)

on behalf of the Early Childhood Center at the Indiana Institute on

Disability and Community, was based on recommendations from " Managing

Infectious Diseases in Child Care and Schools, " AAP 2005. This

information is not intended as medical advice. Always consult your

family's health care provider when questions arise about the

prevention, diagnosis or treatment of a health condition.

For full versions of these and other articles about young children,

visit Indiana AEYC at www.iaeyc.org .