How sick is sick?
An article in the local city newspaper today says that the school board is gearing up for a wicked flu season (read, swine flu). It's short on specifics though. Basically, they're saying sick children should be kept at home.
But how sick is sick? A child is much more likely this fall/winter to be affected by the hundreds of varieties of rhinoviruses and coronaviruses (aka "the common cold") than affected by influenza. And a lot of the symptoms are the same (Upper respiratory symptoms, cough, fever, fatigue). If I had a dollar for every time someone said they had "the flu" when I know darn well it was just a bad cold, I'd be a rich woman. What if a kid just has a runny nose?
Over years of observing the Girl-O, I've come to realize that if she just has a runny nose (no fever), it will clear up in a day or so with no other accompanying symptoms. If she has an accompanying fever, it's more likely to progress to a longer cold involving fatigue and/or cough. I will send her to school with the former, but not the latter.
I'll be seriously pissed if the schools start sending kids home for runny noses.
But how sick is sick? A child is much more likely this fall/winter to be affected by the hundreds of varieties of rhinoviruses and coronaviruses (aka "the common cold") than affected by influenza. And a lot of the symptoms are the same (Upper respiratory symptoms, cough, fever, fatigue). If I had a dollar for every time someone said they had "the flu" when I know darn well it was just a bad cold, I'd be a rich woman. What if a kid just has a runny nose?
Over years of observing the Girl-O, I've come to realize that if she just has a runny nose (no fever), it will clear up in a day or so with no other accompanying symptoms. If she has an accompanying fever, it's more likely to progress to a longer cold involving fatigue and/or cough. I will send her to school with the former, but not the latter.
I'll be seriously pissed if the schools start sending kids home for runny noses.