Your Child: Too Sick for School?

that could take a week or longer!

Diarrhea or Vomiting

Keep your child home until the illness is over, and for 24 hours after the last episode (without medicine). Though diarrhea and vomiting are not usually associated with flu, they may sometimes occur with swine flu.

Sore Throat

A minor sore throat is usually not a problem, but a severe sore throat could be strep throat even if there is no fever. Other symptoms of strep throat in children are headache and stomach upset. Keep your child home from school and contact a doctor. Your child needs a special test to determine if it is strep throat. He or she can return to school 24 hours after antibiotic treatment begins.

Earache

The child needs to see a doctor.

Pink Eye (Conjunctivitis)

Keep the child home until a doctor has given the OK to return to school. Pink eye is highly contagious and most cases are caused by a virus, which will not respond to an antibiotic. Bacterial conjunctivitis will require an antibiotic; your doctor will be able to determine if this is the case.

Rash

Children with a skin rash should see a doctor, as this could be one of several infectious diseases. One possibility is impetigo, a bacterial skin infection that is very contagious and requires antibiotic treatment. 

By Jeanie Davis
Reviewed by Louise Chang
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