NEWS FROM THE CLINIC:
Sometimes it is difficult to make the decision about whether or not your child is sick enough to stay home from school. With minor symptoms early in morning, you cannot predict if he/she will feel better or worse during the course of the day. These guidelines can be of help when you’re trying to decide what’s best to do.
The main reason for keeping your child home are:
- If he/she is too sick to be comfortable at school to participate in activities.
- If he/she might be contagious and spread disease to other children.
A child should stay home if there is:
- FEVER of 100 degrees or more, children should be fever free for 24 hours without medication before returning to school.
- VOMITING or DIARRHEA, children should be symptom-free for 24 hours and be able to hold down food and liquids before returning to school
- FREQUENT COUGH
- PERSISTANT PAIN (EAR, STOMACH , THROAT, HEAD)
- WIDESPREAD RASH
Any of these problems may require a call to your child’s doctor.
FLU season. Practice and teach your child to cough into elbow, and wash hands frequently.
FACTS ABOUT HEADLICE:
- Anyone with hair can get head lice.
- Head lice is common among children in school
- Having head lice does not reflect poor hygiene OR social status.
- Head lice are parasitic insects that live in hair of humans.
- Head lice are spread easily from person to person by direct contact.
Leon County Schools has a no nit policy. If you child has live lice and/nits, you will be called to pick up your child from school. Your child will be re-admitted to school when he /she, upon examination by clinic staff, is free of all lice and their eggs (nits). Please come into school with your child to be rechecked.
Nit removal is the key to successful treatment and necessary for a student to be re-admitted to school. This prevents the eggs from hatching into new lice. Lice shampoo is available at most drug stores. However, lice shampoo only kills live lice not their eggs (nits). You can prevent your child from contracting and spreading head lice by checking your child’s head periodically for lice. Do not share hats, scarves, jackets, towels, and brush/combs.
