To School or Not to School: A Sick Kid Checklist
BY AMANDA CIANI | PHOTO BY KLEINPETER PHOTOGRAPHY | 2024 – 25 COVER KID GABRIEL S. S chool is in full swing, which means lots of laughs in the lunch room, fun science class experiments, games Eating a balanced diet, drinking plenty of fluids, and taking a multivitamin is a good
an annual flu vaccine in the fall. Vaccines are safe and effective.” Furthermore, Dr. Scaggs Huang is a mom who relays, “I know that my children are much less likely to get a serious infection from germs that cause bacterial pneumonia or meningitis, chick- enpox, or measles because they are vaccinated.” THE STAY-AT-HOME CHECKLIST There are a few indisputable, “You are definitely staying home from school today” situations. These include:
start! Staying active while also getting enough sleep are also helpful habits that benefit everyone's health. It isn’t a bad idea to remind children (regardless of their age) that handwashing, and more specifically proper handwashing is very important! This means wetting the hands, applying soap, and scrubbing all surfaces of the hands—fingertips, too—for at least 20 seconds before rinsing and drying. Finally, a tricky one for younger kiddos: avoiding touching one’s face is a good way to keep germs at bay. Dr. Felicia Scaggs Huang, MD, MS, is a Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medi- cal Center pediatrician who also serves as the system’s medical director for Infection Prevention Control. As someone who specializes in infectious diseases, she also notes that, “It’s important to make sure your kids are up-to-date on vaccines before going back to school. This includes getting
in the gym, field trips, lots of extracur- riculars, and more. It also, unfortunately, means little grubby hands passing around germs during all of those activities. There are some preventative measures that can be taken to keep kiddos healthy, but once a sickness begins to rear its ugly heads, a choice has to be made: to send them to school or to not send them to school. After all, it could just be autumnal allergies! And what about if they aren’t even running a fever?! What if they are faking because they are worried about taking a test?! Don’t worry, we chatted with an expert and have answers to the most asked school-related sickness questions. STAYING HEALTHY AS PREVENTATIVE CARE There are a few everyday habits that can help children maintain good overall health.
■Fever ■Diarrhea ■Vomiting ■Severe cough and cold symptoms
First up, fever. “A fever is a temperature greater than 100.4 Fahrenheit. When your child’s body detects an infection, their tem- perature may rise to help fight it,” Scaggs Huang informs. “Daily fever for more than
40 OCTOBER 2025 | BRPARENTS.COM
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