Sick or not quite? Some guidelines for parents
How to Tell
Are you not always sure if your child’s cough and sniffles warrant keeping him home from school? You’re not alone.
In fact, a new study shows that in the past year three out of four parents faced at least one situation in which they were not entirely sure whether or not to keep their child home from school when he or she had a cold.
The National Association of School Nurses (NASN) and Triaminic developed “Sick Day Guidelines” to provide parents with the key signs that they should consider keeping their children home from school, including:
•A fever of 100.4 degrees or higher
•Vomiting
•Symptoms that prevent him or her from participating in school, such as excessive tiredness or lack of appetite; productive coughing or sneezing; headache, body aches or earache and a sore throat
Parents should keep their child home until his or her fever has been gone for 24 hours without medication. Colds can be contagious for at least 48 hours. Returning to school too soon may slow the recovery process and expose others unnecessarily to illness.
The Sick Day Guidelines, which also provide tips for helping to prevent colds and relieve cough and cold symptoms, are available to approximately 14,000 NASN members who reach 16 million children and their families across the country.
Parents may also be unsure about how best to relieve their child’s cough and cold symptoms following recent news about changes to children’s over-the-counter cough and cold product labeling and the new recommendation to not use these products in children under the age of 4 in the United States.
“The mission of school nurses is to support the health and educational success of children,” says Amy Garcia, executive director of the National Association of School Nurses. “Our members often get questions from parents who are confused about how best to handle their child’s cold. That’s why we felt compelled to extend our support to the home and provide parents with a resource that can help them make confident decisions when their child is sick.”
To view the complete Sick Day Guidelines or learn more about the campaign and helpful reminders on using children’s cough and cold medicines appropriately, visit www.nasn.org or www.triaminic.com.