Guidelines Offered on Returning Child to School After Illness

For most parents, sending a child back to school after an illness can be a tough call.

Dr. Jan Drutz, an associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, says the decision should depend on whether the child is still contagious and how he or she feels.

"If you have a child who is still coughing or sneezing, for the sake of the other children, keep them out of contact as much as possible," Dr. Drutz says.

He offers these guidelines:

• Fever: It is best to keep the child who has had fever out of school for 24 hours after the fever is gone.
• Upper respiratory infections: The child should be free of symptoms, like coughing or sneezing, before returning to school.
• Eye infections: A child who has an inflamed or draining eye should be kept out of school until examined by a physician.
• Ear infections: Common ear infections are not contagious. The only reason to keep a child with an ear infection out of school is for his or her own comfort.
• Chicken pox: Studies indicate the child is not contagious five days after the lesions appear.

"Even after the child with chicken pox is no longer contagious, most schools still will say they don't want you back until the lesions are all scabbed over," Dr. Drutz says.

Parents want to return a child to school as soon as possible, but waiting the appropriate amount of time protects the child and classmates.

- From Baylor College of Medicine

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Courtesy of Texas Medical Center News

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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E-Mail: tmcinfo@texmedctr.tmc.edu
URL: http://www.tmc.edu/health_briefs/08_15_99-guidelines.html