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Communicable Illness

Is Your Child Well Enough To Go To School

Certain symptoms in children may suggest the presence of a communicable disease. Regular attendance at school is very important to your child’s success in school. However, to prevent the spread of disease in school, children must not attend school if they are communicable.

Children with the following symptoms/conditions may be communicable and must be excluded from school (must not attend school) until the symptoms have subsided, the recommended treatment has been initiated and the exclusion time has passed:

  • If your child has had a fever of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, he/she must stay home until 24 hours after his/her temperature is less than 99.0 degrees Fahrenheit without the use of fever-reducing medication like Tylenol or Ibuprofen. Do not give your child Tylenol or Ibuprofen and then send him/her to school for temperatures over 99.0 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • If your child has vomited, he/she must stay home until 24 hours after the last episode of vomiting.
  • If your child has been diagnosed with strep throat, he/she must stay home until at least 12 hours after antibiotic treatment begins and he/she is without fever.
  • If your child has been diagnosed with impetigo or scabies, he/she must stay home until at least 24 hours after treatment has been initiated.
  • If your child has lice, he/she must stay home until treatment has been completed and all lice are dead.
  • If your child has a rash that is associated with a fever or other symptoms, that may be disease-related or that you do not know the cause of; review the enclosed information and consult with your family physician before sending him/her to school. We need to ensure it is not a communicable rash (e.g. chickenpox, shingles, measles, roseola, rubella or scarlet fever) before your child comes/returns to school.
  • If your child has one of the childhood illnesses outlined in the enclosed information; review the information, act accordingly and consult your family physician or the school nurse if you have questions before sending him/her to school.

If your child has one of the conditions outlined above or is too ill to attend school, please call the school attendance line to report the illness and your child’s absence.

If your child develops one of the symptoms outlined above or in the enclosed information while in school, he/she will be sent home from school and must not return to school until the symptoms have subsided, the recommended treatment has been initiated and the exclusion time has passed. If your child returns to school with continued symptoms, before the recommended treatment has been initiated and/or before the exclusion time has passed, he/she will again be sent home from school. Please be sure to provide your child’s school with your home, work, and cell phone numbers and the phone number for an emergency contact available during the school day (in case you cannot be reached at home or work or on your cell phone), so we can contact you in the event your child becomes ill or is injured in school.

If you have any questions regarding this information or your child’s illness, please do not hesitate to contact the Health Assistant at your child’s school.

Childhood & Communicable Illnesses