Is your child too sick for school?

Consumer Reports offers advice for common child ailments

If you’re a parent, nothing wreaks havoc with your schedule more than a sick child and the decision about whether to send him or her to school. 

When it comes to cold symptoms, if your child has no fever, he can generally attend school, even with a runny nose or a slight cough, Consumer Reports said.

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“The important thing to pay attention to is whether she is too sick to participate in activities to pay attention and learn. And if your child is so sick that it’s going to take away from the teacher’s ability to manage the classroom, that’s when you need to think about keeping her home,” said Lauren Friedman, with Consumer Reports.

If your youngster vomited or had diarrhea once during the night but otherwise seems fine before it’s time to go to school — he ate a normal breakfast and is fever-free — it’s reasonable to send him off to school, she said. But if it happened more than once, it’s probably best to keep your child home.

Children miss more than 3 million days of school a year because of pink eye.

“The first thing you need to be concerned about with pink eye is whether your child’s school has a policy. Many schools will require that you keep a kid with pink eye home, so checking the rules should be your first order of business," Friedman said. "If you’re not required to keep your kid home, the important thing is to make sure she is taking general precautions, such as washing her hands and not rubbing her eyes. That will help prevent her from spreading it."

If your child has head lice, that may seem like a clear signal to keep him or her home. But if he or she is being properly treated for lice, you don’t need to keep the child home unless it’s required by school policy. As long as children keep their heads apart and don’t share things such as hats, helmets and combs, they should be fine.

And finally, there’s ringworm, a contagious fungal skin condition that’s easily spread by sharing infected hats, combs or hair barrettes. As long as treatment has started, your child should be able to attend school but should be excluded from activities that could spread it, such as using communal swimming pools or showers. The child should not share anything that touches his or her hair or skin.


About the Author:

Marilyn Moritz is an award-winning journalist dedicated to digging up information that can make people’s lives a little bit better. As KSAT’S 12 On Your Side Consumer reporter, she focuses on exposing scams and dangerous products and helping people save money.