New Sick Day Guidelines Help Parents Make the Right Call This Cold Season

/PRNewswire/ -- Parents just know when their children aren't feeling well, but they aren't always sure when those coughs and sniffles warrant keeping them home from school. In fact, a new study shows that 78 percent of parents faced at least one situation in the past year when they were not sure whether or not to keep their children home from school when they had cough or cold symptoms(ii).

To help parents make informed decisions, the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) and Triaminic(R) developed the national "Sick Day Guidelines: Making the Right Call When Your Child Has a Cold." The guidelines provide parents with the key signs that they should consider keeping their child home from school. The Sick Day Guidelines, which also provide tips for helping to prevent colds and relieve cough and cold symptoms, are available to approximately 14,000 NASN members who reach 16 million children and their families across the country.

"Healthy children learn better. It's our goal to support parents and the decisions they make when their child is sick," said Amy Garcia, Executive Director of the National Association of School Nurses. "We felt that this was a perfect opportunity to extend our support to the home and provide parents with a resource that can help them make confident decisions."

The nationwide study among 516 parents with children ages 4 - 14, conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates on behalf of Triaminic(R), also found that:

-- 83 percent of parents worried that they may have sent their child back
to school at least once before their child was fully recovered from
his/her cough or cold.
-- 78 percent of moms and dads say it would be useful to have "Sick Day"
guidelines on when it might be appropriate to keep their child home
from school when he/she has a cough or cold.
-- 79 percent of parents say that having information to help them
understand the type of medication or treatment their child needs is
important.


Parents and caregivers may also be unsure about how best to relieve their child's cough and cold symptoms following recent news about changes to children's over-the-counter cough and cold product labeling and the new recommendation to not use these products in children under the age of four in the U.S.

The "Sick Day Guidelines: Making the Right Call When Your Child Has a Cold" provide parents with tips and useful information so they have the resources they need to make the right call for their family.

Examples of the tips include:
-- Consider keeping your child home from school if he or she has a fever
of 100.4 degrees or higher(iii), has been vomiting, or has symptoms
that prevent him or her from participating in school, such as
excessive tiredness or lack of appetite, productive coughing,
sneezing, headache, body aches, earache or sore throat.
-- Children should stay home from school until the fever has been gone
for 24 hours without medication. Returning to school sooner may slow
recovery and expose others to unnecessary illness.
-- After your child is feeling better, clean all surfaces; wash the
bedding and air out the room.


"Through their extensive membership, the National Association of School Nurses brings a wealth of experience and care to school-aged children and their families. For more than 50 years, Triaminic(R) has been a trusted partner with parents and caregivers, providing a complete line of children's cough and cold products. We are proud to partner with NASN on the Sick Day Guidelines to help children and their families stay well and feel better this cough and cold season," said Praveen Tyle, Ph.D., Head of Global Research and Development, Novartis Consumer Health, Inc.

The Sick Day Guidelines and more information on using children's cough and cold medications appropriately are available at www.nasn.org, www.triaminic.com, or by calling 1-800-KIDS-987. The Sick Day Guidelines are available in both English and Spanish.

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