School Nurse
Guidelines for Keeping Your Child Home from School
Parents often wonder whether or not they should send their child to school when they have a mild illness. If your child has any of the following, you should keep him/her at home:
- Fever of 100°F or more; they should stay home for 24 hours AFTER their temperature has returned to normal, without fever reducing medication.
- If your child has vomited or had diarrhea, they should stay home until 24 hours AFTER the last episode.
- If your child has any rash that might be disease related or you don’t know the cause, check with your primary physician BEFORE sending your child to school.
- If your child has started on antibiotics for any reason, keep them at home until they’ve had a FULL 24 HOURS of medication.
- Purulent (pus-like) eye drainage.
- Symptoms of severe illness such as: unusual fatigue, uncontrolled cough, difficulty breathing.
- Any illness in which your child is unable to participate and function properly in school.
If your child is ill, please call the school DAILY to report the illness.
If you have any questions about these guidelines, feel welcome to contact your family physician or your school nurse.
See below for table of common childhood illnesses, their symptoms, incubation period and quick glance at when they can return to school.
|
Disease |
Symptoms |
Incubation Period |
Student Should Stay Home |
|
Common Cold |
Watery eyes, sneezing, runny nose, fatigue |
1 to 3 days |
Okay to come to school unless child has other symptoms requiring exclusion |
|
Pink Eye |
Red, itchy eyes, pus-like drainage from eyes |
1 to 3 days |
Until diagnosis is verified and bacterial infection is treated for 24 hours |
|
Influenza (Flu) |
Fever, muscle aches, sore throat, cough, congestion, fatigue |
1 to 3 days |
Until 24 hours without fever and well enough to return to usual activities |
|
Mono |
Fever, sore throat, swollen glands, headache, fatigue |
4 to 6 weeks |
Until well enough to return to usual activities; Physician authorization for sports participation |
|
Chicken Pox |
Fever, itchy rash with red bumps, blisters, pustules and scabs |
10 to 21 days |
6 days after rash began |
|
Head Lice |
Live crawling lice, nits (lice eggs)attached to hair shaft, itchy head and neck |
7 to 10 days |
Until treated with lice medication and no live lice are seen. Must see the nurse before returning to class |
|
Ringworm |
Body: Flat, round lesions that clear in the center and may have a raised border; Scalp: Round scaly patch with broken off hair shaft |
Body: 4 to 10 days; Scalp: 10 to 14 days |
Until 24 hours after treatment began |
|
Impetigo |
Skin lesions with yellow discharge that dries, crusts and sticks to the skin |
1 to 10 days |
Until 24 hours after treatment began |
|
Strep Throat |
Fever, sore throat, headache, nausea, vomiting, sometimes a fine, red rash (scarlatina) |
2 to 5 days |
Until 24 hours after starting antibiotics and without fever for 24 hours |