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Sites for Teachers
NIH.gov
MLANET
Attention:
WAIT Training information for parents: |
Important health issues that can happen during the school year.
Sick Day Guidelines
Making the Right Call When Your Child has a Cold
The National Association of School Nurses provided the following guidelines for parents.
Should I keep my child home or send him or her to school?
Consider keeping your child home if he or she:
- Has a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher
- Has been vomiting
- Has symptoms that prevent him or her from participating in school such as:
- Excessive tiredness or lack of appetite
- Productive coughing, sneezing
- Headache, body aches, earache
- 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 upset stomach. Contact your pediatrician as your child needs a special test to determine if it is strep throat.
Keep your 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.
Does my child have the flu?
The flu is serious! Call your pediatrician at the first sign of flu symptoms, which typically come on suddenly, including:
- High fever
- Chills
- Head ache, body aches, ear ache
- Nausea, vomiting
- Dry cough
If you’re unsure about the best way to treat your child’s cold or flu, ask your school nurse, doctor, pharmacist, or other healthcare provider.
How do I make my child feel better?
- Make sure your child gets plenty of rest and put limits on TV watching.
- Encourage fluids; like water, soup, juice, and ice
- Help your child relax by reading him a story and giving him plenty of TLC
- Consider using a cool humidifier
- When used as directed, children’s cough and cold medicines help relieve cough and cold symptoms while your child is getting better. Read and follow the direction carefully and give the exact recommended dose for the child’s age. Do not use over the counter cough and cold medications for children under the age of four.
The Kissing Disease 
Sore throat, weakness,
fatigue and headache, it most certainly does not sound like fun! Those are just a few symptoms of infectious Mononucleosis also known as Mono.
This lovely virus is most common among children and young adults and can be spread through saliva, which is how it gets its recognizable nickname of “the kissing disease.” The illness itself is caused by the Epstein-Barr virus and can last from 10 days to as long as six weeks. Mono is not a very contagious virus, although it is thought to be by most people. In fact, Mono will not prevent a student from attending school.
A person with Mononucleosis can run a fever in the range of 100 to 103 degrees. This fever can usually be controlled by a simple dose of Tylenol. As for the symptom of a sore throat, the best that can be advised is to gargle and consume hot drinks.
Mono can generally be kept uncomplicated by having no intimate contact and by decreasing activity. It is best to treat Mono with bed rest and adequate fluids, and remember it is possible to contract other illnesses while you have the virus due to a weakened physical condition. People with Mono are encouraged to follow proper treatment for getting better, and make others aware of possible symptoms of Mononucleosis.
If you have these symptoms, the school encourages you to see your family doctor. They stress the importance of good hand washing and no sharing of items, especially drink cups or water bottles.
Last Updated on
September 3, 2009 10:41 AM
Dear Parents,
The Colorado School Entrance Immunization Law requires all students to provide proof of immunization's to attend school. Your child's immunization record must be presented the first day of school. If your child does not have all the required immunization's the school will notify you.
The required immunization's for school are; 5-DPT, 4-Polio, 2-MMR (Measles, Mumps & Rubella), 3-Hepatitis B and 1-Varicella (chickenpox). The school nurse highly recommends the Meningealeoccal vaccine for all college bound students planning to live in dorms. Please talk to you physician.
Screening for vision and hearing problems are an appropriate and very important part of school health services. Every September the school nurse along with the help of OJC nursing students, screen grades K-9 and all new students for vision, hearing, height/weight and sometimes blood pressure.
Every year 1st grade students are screened for color deficiency known as color blindness. Parents of any child who fails the above screenings will be notified by the school nurse.
Every year Mrs. Casper, the school nurse, takes any junior and senior students interested in the health field on a one day trip to a health facility. Also contact her to set up a one day mentoring program in a health related field.
Lice checks are another important aspect of school health services. Routinely head checks are done the first week of school and sometimes after Christmas break. Lice do not discriminate. Children should be encouraged not to share brushes, combs, or hats and report infestation to the school nurse.
If you have any questions dealing with health tips or immunization dates, please feel free to call Mrs. Muth at (719) 384-8103
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