As parents/guardians, we will all make decisions about whether or not to send our child to school if they have symptoms of an illness. Our district has developed the following guidelines for you to use while deciding whether your child should attend school or should stay home.
Children should stay at home if they have:
-Any illness that prevents the child from participating comfortably in school activities
-Illness that results in a greater need for care than the school can provide without compromising the health and safety of other children.
–The presence of one or more of the following symptoms:
- Fever of 100 degrees or higher
- Difficulty breathing or a persistent cough.
- Three or more loose stools
- Stool that contains blood or mucus.
- Vomiting two or more times during the previous twenty-four hours, unless the vomiting is determined to be caused by a non-communicable condition and the child is not in danger of dehydration (such as a sensitive gag reflex)
- Mouth sores that cause excessive drooling resulting in the child’s inability to control his/her own saliva
- Rash with fever, until a physician has determined the illness is not a communicable disease
- Eye infections (conjunctivitis or pink eye with drainage) until examined by a physician and determined to not be communicable or until after twenty-four hours of antibiotic treatment
- Decreased activity level or if your child appears excessively tired
- Irritability or persistent crying
Viral infections, which usually do not need any antibiotic treatments, are contagious until after a certain period of time
- Chickenpox is contagious until all of the lesions have dried and are crusted over (usually six or seven days after the infection began).
- Hepatitis A is contagious until at least a week after the infection and jaundice began
With many bacterial infections or other health concerns, it is safe to go back to school after appropriate treatments, including:
- Twenty four hours of antibiotic therapy for strep throat and impetigo
- A single treatment for scabies and head lice
- Five days of antibiotics for Pertussis infections
Other infections that may necessitate prolonged exclusion from school include:
- Tuberculosis (children should be excluded until properly treated and the health department confirms they are no longer contagious)
- Measles, Mumps, Pertussis
- E. Coli and Shigella infections (until diarrhea resolves and the child has two stool cultures that don’t show an infection).
Children do not need to be excluded if:
- They have a mild upper respiratory tract infection, even if it is associated with green or yellow nasal discharge, as long as the child does not have a fever or any of the other symptoms described above.
- Fifth disease (Parvovirus B19 infection), as they are no longer contagious once the rash appears
- Warts, or ringworm (infected area must be covered with a bandage).
This list includes exclusion criteria in accordance with the Illinois Department of Public Health’s Rules and Regulations for Control of communicable Disease and Illinois Department of Public Health. http://www.idph.state.il.us/health/infect/comm_disease_guide.pdf