August 24, 2009

Dear Parent/Guardian,

The cold and flu season is here again so we would like to share with you some guidelines which, with your cooperation, will minimize the spread of infection and reduce the number of absences of our students.

How sick is TOO SICK to come to school?

Here are five types of illnesses or symptoms that are reasons for keeping a child home:

FEVER - With a temperature of 100 or above, your child should remain home until fever-free without the use of fever-reducing medications (Tylenol, Motrin, etc.) for 24 hours.  If you do not have a thermometer, PLEASE consider acquiring one for accurate measure of your child's temperature.

FLU or FLU-LIKE ILLNESS - Persistent cough, body aches, headache, fever (see above).

VOMITING - Your child normally should not attend school if he/she has vomited within the last 12 hours.

DIARRHEA - Your child normally should remain at home if he/she has had diarrhea in the last 12 hours.

UNDIAGNOSED RASH - Your child should not attend school until the rash has been diagnosed and treated.  It could be measles, chicken pox, or some other contagious condition.

PINK EYE (conjunctivitis) - if his/her eye is red, swollen, and is crusty and draining, he/she should stay home and you should notify your physician.

With the current concerns about the H1N1 flu strain (also known as "swine flu"), we hope that this information will be of help to you.  Public health agencies will receive doses of the H1N1 vaccine in October and December.  The strategy in Alabama will be to provide the vaccine to school-based clinics for kindergarten through 12^th grade students.  We will keep you informed about this process.

Thank you for your assistance and cooperation in protecting our children!