? about "Mono". Should a kid be in school?

[HeatherC]

Hoping you guys can answer a couple questions for me.

My neighbors son (11) was just diagnosed with mono. He had strep about a week ago as well. Anyway...he is on my sons basketball team and plays with him quite frequently at home...though not so much recently.

Well he was out of school for 2 days last week due to the strep. (Thurs and Fri). Saturday they brought him to b'ball while they were waiting for test results. He didn't play but sat with the other kids and was high fiving everyone. He has been in school this week every day.

My question is: shouldn't they keep him away from other kids since it is a viral infection and not bacterial? It must be a mild case if he is able to go to school, right? Or do they treat it with antibiotics where after a certain amount of time he's not contagious.

I'm really annoyed because my dd also plays with their two other kids...one of whom also had strep last week. They keep calling for my dd to come play since they are "fine". But I won't let her...not this week before Christmas.

Am I over-reacting or should this kid really be home and not infecting other people...especially around the holidays?

I usually don't worry too much about this stuff, but this time I'm a little annoyed since they seem so lax about getting other people sick. (Actually, this family is always lax about it.)

So any thoughts?

Thanks so much!

 

[kacaju]

We have been told by our ped. that unless you are kissing or drinking out of the same glass mono is not that easily spread. My dd16 just had mono this fall and she was told if she felt up to it she could go to school. The school nurse didn't have a problemw ith it either.
I know some parents were upset, but I was listening to the Dr and School nurse.

 

[mickeylove2]

We have been told by our ped. that unless you are kissing or drinking out of the same glass mono is not that easily spread. My dd16 just had mono this fall and she was told if she felt up to it she could go to school. The school nurse didn't have a problemw ith it either.
I know some parents were upset, but I was listening to the Dr and School nurse.

That would have annoyed the heck out of me...my DD8 had mono 3 years ago, and I can assure you that she was not kissing or sharing a glass with anyone who was infected. The dr. said that it's likely that she got it from the water fountain or from an infected child at school not washing their hands and my DD touching something from a doorknob to a ball, or anything in between, after it has been touched by an infected child.

My DD was out of school for awhile like a month or so, and even after she went back, she was very weak and tired all the time and spent much of the day in the office doing school work and napping. She had an enlarged spleen so was out of activities for a long time. I would be curious about him playing basketball having mono, but as for sitting and watching- well, I wouldn't have had my DD there, but to each his own I guess.

 

[mjkacmom]

I've heard kids can go to school with mono, and it's not very contagious. Strep doesn't bother me a bit - once you have 2 doses of antibiotics, you are no longer contagious. I've also found that it really doesn't spread before antibiotics - usually only one of my kids comes down with it at a time.

 

[HeatherC]

Thanks guys! I do know it's called the kissing disease...but this kid is also sneezing and coughing so the saliva can still be spread. I guess I would just be keeping mine home for a few days since this is a short week and they aren't doing much at school anyway so I didn't infect anyone else.

Oh..and this family both parents are home during the day. Dad works from home and mom is a SAHM so it's not like they have to leave to go to the office.

I would think he'd be feeling pretty crummy too but maybe it's a mild case.

 

[happygirl]

http://kidshealth.org/teen/infections/common/mono_contagious.html

 

[taximomfor4]

It is NOT easy to catch mono. Actually, many kids never know they have it because it often doesn't have severe symptoms in young children (more often has noticeable symptoms in teens). Some of these kids go on to become carriers. There is no reason to keep a child with mono from school, due to it not spreading easily and due to the fact that almost everyone who gets mono is getting it from carriers, not from symptomatic people. It is contagious during its incubation period which is very, VERY long (WEEKS). No point in closing the door once the horse is out of the stable!

Just look at how few people get it in a household. ALmost always, 1 child gets it but the rest of the family do not. It just isn't that easy to catch. One of my dd's got mono last year in 5th grade. She was NOT kissing anyone or sharing a cup/straw. Not one single kid had been sick at that school with mono in the past TWO YEARS. She hadn't been going anywhere else, not even the grocery store. She got it from a carrier.

Our pediatrician is very conservative, and she let how dd felt be our guide. I will say, dd's monocytes came back very, VERY high (more like what they would expect in a 17 yo old with mono). DD missed quite a bit of school, but that's because she was going in almost every day, and calling me when she needed to come home. Also, be aware that the spleen doesn't generally enlarge right away -- dd had it re-checked a week after her diagnosis, and it was very enlarged. So she was out of dance, recess, and PE until a later re-check showed the spleen was back behind the rib cage again.

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

I was horizontal for about 7 days when I had mono. I don't know how the kid is able to function.

 

[Stacerita]

If he has mono and is up and around playing b-ball, I am amazed. I was in bed for months with it. Worst 3 months of my life.

 

[a1tinkfans]

when my dh had it, thanks to the "guys" on the lacrosse team many moon ago, sharing the drinks.......... he missed an entire semester of school, AWFUL experience...........
Maybe it is a "lesser " strain, for lack of better terminology..

 

[MushyMushy]

Mono is not that easy to catch and I'm surprised a doctor would suggest it can be caught from a doorknob or water fountain. If that were the case, entire schools would be brought down with it. It pretty much has to be from direct contact with saliva.

As for the strep, I just got over it and I was released to go back to work after I'd been on a few doses of antibiotic. Even if he was high fiving the other kids, they're probably fine if he's on one. They should practice good hand washing regardless because the kid in front of him or behind him might be brewing something nasty too.

 

[aprilgail2]

If he has mono and is up and around playing b-ball, I am amazed. I was in bed for months with it. Worst 3 months of my life.

I can't believe his Dr would even allow him to play basketball- my friends neighbor had mono the same time as me and she actually died from hitting her spleen in the bathroom and rupturing it! The one thing they told me when I had it was that I had to avoid all physical activity due to the possiblity of a ruptured spleen!

 

[Lachesis00]

I too never shared a cup or kissed someone and was told it was from a drinking fountain or someone coughing in their hand and touching a door knob.
I have other health issues, but was out of school from December-April and only part time April-May when we got out. It was terrible. That was back in the late-80's. I missed 1/2 my junior year. I was more mad I didn't get to go to the Basketball finals at the time

 

[luvsJack]

dd has it right now. According to her dr dd could have gone back to school 1 week from the time she started having symptoms (he said she was contagious before that)

She's been sick since Thanksgiving and has not felt like going much of anywhere.

 

[mhsjax]

Mono is not that easy to catch and I'm surprised a doctor would suggest it can be caught from a doorknob or water fountain. If that were the case, entire schools would be brought down with it. It pretty much has to be from direct contact with saliva.

As for the strep, I just got over it and I was released to go back to work after I'd been on a few doses of antibiotic. Even if he was high fiving the other kids, they're probably fine if he's on one. They should practice good hand washing regardless because the kid in front of him or behind him might be brewing something nasty too.

I had a friend and her 5 year old daughter had it. Her Dr said the same thing, most likely from a water fountain. The entire family are germaphobes and she wouldn't drink after anyone, not even after her own family, so it can happen.

As for going to school, I wouldn't worry so much about the sick child giving mono to someone as I would ;the kiddo with mono picking up whatever other illnesses are around, Mono compromises you r immune system, IMHO it would be stupid to send a child with mono to school, for fear of picking up some other illness. I speak from experience.

 

[tabby1881]

dd has it right now. According to her dr dd could have gone back to school 1 week from the time she started having symptoms (he said she was contagious before that)

She's been sick since Thanksgiving and has not felt like going much of anywhere.

my dd18 has it now, too. she has felt terrible for so long now. She started with the flu at Halloween and then just didn't get better. The day that she found out that she had mono she also had a sinus infection and perhaps a lung infection. I was not expecting to hear mono as well. She just recently found out that she has a staph infection on her finger. She got it by scratching against the wall when making her bed. The doctor said it is all related to her over taxed immune system. I ended up getting her a mono "plushie" from a website to try and cheer her up. It's kind of cute. I hope that she likes it. Tough way to start college! Good luck with your daughter with mono.

 

[taximomfor4]

As for going to school, I wouldn't worry so much about the sick child giving mono to someone as I would ;the kiddo with mono picking up whatever other illnesses are around, Mono compromises you r immune system, IMHO it would be stupid to send a child with mono to school, for fear of picking up some other illness. I speak from experience.

We sent our daughter to school part-time when she had mono...and we were not being "stupid." She used proper precautions, like handwashing. She called to come home when she was tired. She didn't pick up any other illnesses, even though it was November/December when LOTS of stuff is flying around. I am an RN, grew up in a household full of medical people. I don't consider myself stupid about decisions involving my childrens' health. I spoke with our ped, who I really trust, and combined that with how dd felt.

To a pp about the spleen rupture possibility, not everyone with mono gets an enlarged spleen. DD wasn't told to avoid physical activities until a re-check showed that her spleen finally HAD enlarged. Of course, she could barely stay awake for an hour -- she wasn't playing anything. But then again, kids before their teen years tend to get a much milder course of mono. And luckily, most commonly it's caused by Epstein-Barr virus...once that has given you mono, you are generally NOT going to ever get it again (although you CAN get the rarer cytomegalovirus mono-like illness).

 

[luvsJack]

my dd18 has it now, too. she has felt terrible for so long now. She started with the flu at Halloween and then just didn't get better. The day that she found out that she had mono she also had a sinus infection and perhaps a lung infection. I was not expecting to hear mono as well. She just recently found out that she has a staph infection on her finger. She got it by scratching against the wall when making her bed. The doctor said it is all related to her over taxed immune system. I ended up getting her a mono "plushie" from a website to try and cheer her up. It's kind of cute. I hope that she likes it. Tough way to start college! Good luck with your daughter with mono.

Has any doctor made any suggestions to you about how to build her immune system back up?

Dd got sick in October too, she had strep and then she has just had days since then that she was wiped out. Any time she had a busy weekend, she would be feeling really bad on Monday. I thought she just didn't want to go to school!! Now I am thinking she has been on the verge of sick this whole time.

Right after Thanksgiving is when her symptoms really started showing up.

 

[tabby1881]

Has any doctor made any suggestions to you about how to build her immune system back up?

Dd got sick in October too, she had strep and then she has just had days since then that she was wiped out. Any time she had a busy weekend, she would be feeling really bad on Monday. I thought she just didn't want to go to school!! Now I am thinking she has been on the verge of sick this whole time.

Right after Thanksgiving is when her symptoms really started showing up.

your poor dd. I know what you mean about thinking that they just didn't want to go to school. That's what I thought about my dd. I had such "mother guilt" when the mono test was positive.
The doctor said that my dd needs to rest and eat proper meals. Good luck with your dd.

 

[luvsJack]

your poor dd. I know what you mean about thinking that they just didn't want to go to school. That's what I thought about my dd. I had such "mother guilt" when the mono test was positive.
The doctor said that my dd needs to rest and eat proper meals. Good luck with your dd.

Doesn't it just get ya? That "mother guilt"? Just when you think you are "being a good mother" and fussing at them just that right amount about what they "should" do; they come along and make you feel like a heel!!