Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/ask-dr.-sue-exclusion-of-children-with-fevers-from-child-care/5013688/
Caring for Ill Children in Child Care Is InevitableChildren get sick more often than adults. They have little experience with common infectious diseases that we encounter routinely in the environment. When they do get infected, children's lack of experience with these germs and, for children under three years of age, their weaker immune systems may result in burdensome symptoms. Sometimes children fight off the infections with just a runny nose. Sometimes they develop fever from the work of fighting the infection or the byproducts of an infection. Sometimes children show no symptoms at all but are still carrying enough of the troublesome germs to spread the infection to others.
Why Caregivers Want to Exclude Children With Fevers
Many child care providers don't want to take care of children with fevers. First, children with fevers may require more attention than usual. With staffing stresses that make care of well children difficult, when one or more children need extra attention, the job gets really tough. Second, many caregivers are afraid that the ill child may develop a serious problem that the caregiver does not know how to handle. Third, caregivers worry that the febrile child will spread the illness to the other children and to ...