Content

• Steps
• Warning

Sometimes, it's hard to decide whether you should take time off from school or work because you're sick. On the one hand, you may not feel very well and don't want to infect others, but on the other hand, you still have a lot to do. To be able to make that decision, it is important to recognize the signs of an infectious disease, as well as understand the medical advice provided by the public health care agency. Finally, if you still have to work or go to school while you have an infectious disease, you should take steps to avoid infecting others.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Recognizing the Symptoms of an Infectious Disease

1. 

   Rest at home if you have a fever. If you have a fever of 38 degrees C or higher, you should stay home until your body temperature returns to normal (37 degrees C) for 1 day. Taking antipyretics does not count. In essence, you are still sick and capable of infecting others.
   • Infants with a fever above 38 degrees C or higher should be taken to the emergency room.
   • A high fever is often accompanied by chills alternating with sweating.

2. 

   
   
   Stay home if you have a lot of cough. Severe, deep coughs that seem to originate in the lungs can be a sign of an infection. Do not go to school or work in this case. Consider if you need to see your doctor.
   • Mild coughs are most often caused by colds or allergies. You may experience a runny nose, stuffy nose or sneezing. If you do, and there are no other symptoms, you can still go to work and school normally.
   • Cover your cough and wash your hands often. This will prevent the germs from spreading.
   • If you find it difficult to breathe while coughing, see your doctor for medication.

3. 

   
   
   Do not go to work or school if you vomit. Stay away from others until you are no longer vomiting and the doctor concludes that your illness is not contagious. Vomiting will cause the body to become dehydrated and weak.
   • Take care of yourself by drinking plenty of water. If you keep drinking and inducing vomiting, you can try sucking on ice cubes. This will allow the water to flow into your body slowly and prevent vomiting.
   • If you can't control your vomiting from any fluids and are in danger of becoming severely dehydrated, you may need to go to the emergency room. If necessary, you will be given an intravenous infusion to avoid dehydration. Symptoms of dehydration include: fatigue, headache, low urination, dark or cloudy urine, crying without tears.

4. 

   
   
   Please take a break if you have diarrhea. Loose or watery stools are usually a sign of an infection. Stay close to the bathroom at all times and don't go to school or work until you are well.
   • If the diarrhea is caused by food or medicine, it is not contagious. In this case, you are well enough to live as usual and do not need to take time off from home.
   • When you have diarrhea, you lose a lot of water. That means you have to drink plenty of rehydration water. Drink water even if you don't feel thirsty.

5. 

   Stay home and see if you have a rash. If the rash forms an open and watery wound, or spreads quickly, seek medical attention. Do not go to school or work until your doctor concludes that you do not have a contagious disease.
   • An allergic rash is not contagious. If you can control the symptoms, you can still go to school or work as usual.
   • For mild rashes, you can still come out normally if you hide them. See your school nurse or doctor for sure.

6. 

   Avoid spreading colds to others. If you just have a cold, you may not need to stay home. If you are not so sick that you need to take leave, there are steps you can take to protect others. You can:
   • Wash your hands often
   • Do not hug or shake hands with others
   • Do not share food or drink with others
   • Turn your face away when you sneeze or cough, and cover your mouth with your elbow.
   • Use a tissue if runny nose.
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Part 2 of 3: Follow General Safety Guidelines for Children Sick

1. 

   Do not send your child to school if they have a vaccine-preventable illness. If the child comes into contact with unvaccinated children, or children with weak immune systems, they are at risk of infection. Wait until the doctor confirms that the child is well enough to go to school. These diseases include:
   • Measles. It has cold-like symptoms and a rash. Infected people are contagious for 4 days before the appearance of the rash and for the first 4 days of when they appear. Wait until the doctor allows the child to go to school.
   • Mumps. The illness has flu-like symptoms and the patient's salivary glands swell. Follow the directions from your child's doctor and child's school to find out how long you should stay home from home.
   • Rubella. It has flu-like symptoms and has a pink rash. It can cause birth defects in the fetus if acquired by the mother. Ask the school's doctor and nurse when your child can return to school.
   • Whooping cough. It has symptoms like both a cold and a cold and your baby will have a severe cough with difficulty breathing. Ask the doctor and school nurse how long a child is likely to infect others.
   • Chicken pox. It has flu-like symptoms with blisters. The infected person is able to spread the infection to others for two days before the rash starts to crust over. Ask your doctor when your child can return to school.

2. 

   Keep your child home when he or she has red eye pain. Red-eye pain, also known as conjunctivitis, is an infectious disease that causes the eyes to become red and appear to be sticky green-yellow rust.
   • Because eyes are itchy, children rub their eyes, then touch other children or shared toys, so the disease is very contagious.
   • Once your child has started treatment, you can keep your child going to school when the doctor says the disease is no longer contagious.

3. 

   Leave your child at home for one day if he or she is diagnosed with impetigo. However, if the child is being treated under the supervision of a doctor, you can send the child to school, unless the doctor advises you to leave the child at home.
   • Impetigo is an infectious disease with the appearance of pustules. The pustules may be watery and scaly. Acne needs to be covered when children go to school.
   • Impetigo can be caused by a streptococcal, staph or MRSA infection.

4. 

   Keep your child out of school if he has a sore throat. This disease is characterized by a swollen throat. Take your child to the doctor because he or she may need antibiotics.
   • Children can feel well enough to go to school 24 hours after taking antibiotics.
   • You should consult your doctor about this.

5. 

   Keep your child out of school for about a week if they have hepatitis A. This is a highly contagious liver disease that causes dizziness, vomiting, pain near the liver, joint pain, dark urine, clay-colored stools, yellow eyes and skin. If you think your child has hepatitis A, seek medical attention right away.
   • If it takes more than a week for your child to get well enough to return to school, let your child stay home for a while longer.

6. 

   Seek medical advice as soon as a child complains of ear pain or discharge from the ear. If the pain is caused by a bacterial infection, the child may need antibiotics.
   • Children may not focus on studying until the pain stops. Keep your child at home until they are well.
   • Ear pain can be caused by a bacterial or viral infection. If left untreated, this can lead to hearing loss.

7. 

   Send your child to school when treatment for infectious diseases has begun. Consult with the school's doctors and nurses. Children can be sent to school or daycare if they have one of the following common infections:
   • Scabies. The cause of the disease is due to the mites that reside under the skin and lay eggs. It will cause red bumps and furrows under the skin, causing an intense itching sensation. See your doctor for medication treatment.
   • Head lice. Head lice are insects that live in human hair and lay eggs. They are itchy but do not carry dangerous pathogens. Their eggs will stick in their hair and can be removed easily with a squash comb.If necessary, you can take your child out of school for a few days to treat lice. Lice treatment shampoos can be sold by prescription or not.
   • Skin fungus. Fungus is an infection with ring-like spots on the skin. See your child to see if he or she needs a fungal medicine. Diseased skin should be covered when children go to school.
   • Acute infectious erythema. This disease has flu-like symptoms. In the late stages of the disease, the rash usually appears on the face and elsewhere on the body. Since the rash also appears on the cheeks, it is also known as blush. Once the rash appears, the child will no longer be contagious. Take your child to the doctor if he or she has sickle cell anemia or a weakened immune system. This disease is also very dangerous for the fetus if exposed to the source of the disease.
   • Hand-foot-mouth disease. It causes painful bumps in the mouth and red spots on the hands and feet. It can also cause fever and swelling in the throat. If your child has drooling and mouth sores, keep them out of school.
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Part 3 of 3: Preventing the Infection

1. 

   Avoid being close to others when you are sick. If you have to work or go to school when you are sick, you can minimize your chances of infecting others by keeping distance. You can:
   • Avoid hugging each other. If necessary, explain to people that you are not feeling well and do not want to make them sick. They may agree that staying away from you is best.
   • Do not lean over other people while talking or looking at the computer screen behind them.
   • Wear a mask to avoid accidentally breathing in other people's faces.
   • Avoid shaking hands.

2. 

   Cover your cough or sneeze. This will prevent the bacteria from being shot at other people as well as in places where people are often touching.
   • Cover your mouth with a tissue and throw it away after use. Although it looks clean, you transferred the virus to a tissue.
   • If you don't have a tissue, sneeze and cough into your elbow, don't use your hands. Compared with the hands, elbows are the place with the least contact with other people as well as the surfaces that people touch the most.
   • If you have uncontrolled coughing or sneezing, wear a mask.
   • Wipe the areas that you have just touched with an antibacterial cloth. That place includes a desk top, computer keyboard, and door handles.

3. 

   Wash your hands often and clean. Wash your hands before preparing food and after using the toilet, after blowing your nose, after sneezing, after coughing, and before caring for or touching others. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the following steps:
   • Wash your hands under running water. Turn off the water tap to save water.
   • Rub soap on your hands. Rub soap that covers your hands, including the backs of your hands, between your fingers and between your fingernails.
   • Rub hands together vigorously for at least 20 seconds.
   • Rinse off soap and bacteria with clean water.
   • Dry or use a clean towel to dry your hands. A dirty washcloth will do the whole thing for you to wash your hands.

4. 

   Seek medical attention if you have signs of a serious infection or complications. If you or your child has one of the following symptoms, see:
   • Shortness of breath
   • Rapidly breath
   • Pale skin
   • Dehydration
   • Lethargic or unable to wake up
   • Irritated crying
   • Fever. For babies and young children, see your doctor even if your child has a cold fever below 38 degrees Celsius, or for an infant with a lower than normal temperature.
   • Fever lasts more than 3 days
   • Fever with a rash
   • The flu symptoms do not go away, followed by a fever and a severe cough
   • Dehydration
   • Pain in the abdomen or chest
   • Chest or stomach tightness
   • Dizziness
   • Confusion
   • Vomiting a lot
   • Exhausted
   • Severe headache or sore throat
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Warning

• If your child is ill, see your pediatrician for advice on caring for them.
• Always follow your doctor's instructions when taking medication.
• Consult your doctor before taking any medicine or adopting home remedies while you are pregnant, or you are treating a young child.
• If you are already on certain medications, consult your doctor before taking more medication, even if those are sold without prescription, or self-healing methods. . The reason is because they can interact with each other.
• If you have to interact with a large number of vulnerable people at school or at work, taking sick leave becomes even more necessary. People most susceptible to the disease include children, the elderly, people with immunodeficiency and other health problems.