If your child gets sick this cold and flu season, it can be hard to determine when to keep him or her home from school. Sara Goza, M.D., a pediatrician at Piedmont Physicians Pediatrics, shares which symptoms warrant a sick day – and when your child is likely well enough to go to class. Dr. Goza says the following signs likely indicate your child is not well enough to attend school:

• The illness hinders your child’s ability to participate in class.
• Your child requires more care than the school staff can provide.
• He or she is contagious.

Always use your best judgment, but your child is likely well enough to go to school with the following symptoms:

• A cold, a runny nose or a cough, as long as he or she coughs/sneezes into a tissue and frequently washes his or her hands.
• An eye infection with watery, clear discharge. Keep your child at home if the eye area is matted or red. It could be bacterial conjunctivitis (pinkeye).
• An ear infection with only mild discomfort.
• Lice, if he or she has been on treatment for 24 hours.
• Ringworm, if he or she has been on treatment for 24 hours.

Guidelines for specific symptoms

• Fever. “No child should go to school with a temperature of more than 100.5,” Dr. Goza says. “Temperatures of 99 or 100 degrees are not necessarily fever.”
• Cough. “If a child is coughing a lot and can’t control it or is too young to know to cough into a tissue, you should consider keeping him or her at home until a doctor has given the okay.”
• Skin rash. “Not all rashes are contagious, but if it is accompanied by a fever or if your child has boils or a weeping rash, you should see a doctor,” she says.
• Vomiting and diarrhea. “If your child has frequent symptoms, he or she should probably stay home from school,” Dr. Goza says. “However, if it is acute and/or if you know your child is only sick because, say, she had too much fruit juice, she is probably fine to go to school after symptoms have subsided.”

When to send your child back to school:

• When he or she has been without a fever for 12 to 24 hours.
• If your pediatrician has given him or her clearance to return to class.

“I tell parents to look at how their child is acting,” Dr. Goza says. “If your child isn't participating in activities, or has a behavioral change, there is probably something going on.”

Need to make an appointment with a Piedmont physician? Save time, book online.