OT.. how long did you keep your child with mono out of school?

[chrismartinique]

I am an RN and I am just scratching my head on this one.... My son had mono as a young teen a couple years ago, and he was like walking death. He had a HIGH fever, a strep infection and the worst sore throat ever!! He was very ill for a whole week, and he was weak and run down another 2 weeks prob.

Heres the confusion... my 10 year old daughter has mono. Her strep screen was negative, but her throat looked terrible. She sounds like she is talking with a towel in her mouth because everything is so swollen. But no high fevers and she doesn't feel knocked out. She is a little down on her usual activity, and she is a little more "couchy", but nothing like her brother a few years ago. I know the severity of the illness can vary like this, but wow.

Dr said keep her out of school another week. She missed all this week. i think she will get cabin crazy however I don't want to spread the illness in this acute phase even tho it is catchy for several months. And, I don't want her to overdo it and relapse. Just wondered about other "mild" cases

 

[My5Mouseketeers]

When my daughter had mono she was out for 6 weeks. When the doctor palpitated her stomach and her spleen? (some internal organ) was no longer enlarged, she was allowed to go back to school the next week.

 

[Leajess99]

No mono here but wanted to say I hope she is 100% very soon. I can understand the cabin fever as my 7 year old currently has pneumonia and has been out of school this week. I wish all the sickies would go away.

 

[floridascgirl]

My neice (age 6) just had it and would you believe that my SIL never kept her home? She would dose her with Motrin/Tylenol and send her on to school each day. Of course, by the afternoon, her fever would spike to 103. This went on for 2 weeks and it made me furious.

 

[Nlbnikki]

My DD,now 7,had it when she was 4. Went to the doctor because her throat was solid white,this was a MOnday. Strep test negative,no fever but he sends us for blood work to confirm it's mono. He then told us to expect her to just lay on the couch for a couple weeks. By Friday the throat was clear & she was hungry & stir crazy. The doctor called to say the blood work was back & yes it was mono so that would explain why she is not herself. I laughed & told him we were eating pizza at the mall. He asked to see her ASAP & could not believe that all signs of the Mono were gone except her spleen was slightly enlarged. Try keeping a 4 yr old calm when she feels fine. We are lucky that she kicks illness fast.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

When my daughter had mono she was out for 6 weeks. When the doctor palpitated her stomach and her spleen? (some internal organ) was no longer enlarged, she was allowed to go back to school the next week.

When I had it I stayed home about 2 months as well. The school had to send tutors to school me because I could not go to school until the test was clear.

 

[aussietravellers]

I was reading this, thinking "what on earth is mono" and from reading replies it seems common in the USA, so why have we not got it in Australia. So I left disboards to find google to see what on earth this mono is and why do we not have it.

Well we do have it, but it's not called mono here, its called Glandular Fever.

So, now I can answer the question from my experience. I had glandular fever as a child, I remember being just so tired, high fever and OMG, my throat, so sore. Anyway I was off school for about 8 weeks in total, I caught it about 2 weeks before the end of school term, then had the holiday and then missed the beginning of school too.

I'd go by what your Dr says. She may be feeling well at home but once running around at school and working, she may ware out really quickly and go downhill. If the Dr says to keep her home for another week, I would be keeping her home if she were mine. But you are an RN and she is your daughter, so I think just do what you feel is right. As far as going back to school and being exhausted, the main way she will pass it on is through saliva isn't it, so if she isnt sharing a cup, drink bottle, straw or kissing then she is less likely to pass it on.

Anyway I hope she gets better soon, it's terrible when you have sick children , terrible for them but also for mums

 

[jimandami]

DS had it when he was 3 and he was out of daycare/preschool for 2 weeks, but not because he felt bad. Honestly, he only felt bad for about 2-3 days and then was just fine. However, our pedi wanted him to stay home because of the risk of splenic rupture...there's not really any way to keep a 3 year-old down, especially surrounded by other kids. Now, since your DD is 10 and you can tell her not to do any physical activities, I think she would be fine to go back to school, as long as she feels ok. As long as she feels ok (isn't too tired), doesn't have a fever, and doesn't share drinks with other kids, I would send her.

 

[rt2dz]

When I had it high school, I missed 2-3 weeks. I could not function during that time.

When my son was in first grade, he had it and I was told to keep him out of school until he was fever free for 48 hours, as the fever can come and go. He was then restricted from physical activity (PE, sports, etc) for 4 weeks. I did send him to school, as he had no other symptoms after missing a week, once fever free for 48 hours. But he stayed out of physical activity for about 6 weeks as he could still get hugely exhausted.

 

[susiesk]

My 14 yr old DD got Mono a few weeks ago. She only missed 2 days of school. She never did develop a fever with it..mostly just a very sore and swollen throat and she was tired.

We were prepared to keep her out of school for a week or so, but she wanted to go back and the doctor gave her the o.k. The only thing was that she couldn't participate in gym for a couple of weeks.

From all the other stories I hear of recovery...we got very lucky with hers being so minor.

 

[MissNurse]

I am a school nurse, so here's my 2 cents. If she feels fine, and has no fever, go ahead and let her go if she wants to. Tell her not to share drinks, food, lip gloss, etc (good rule of thumb anyway). Call the school nurse at her school, and discuss this w/ them. I have had a few students come to school w/ mono over my 4 yrs as a school nurse (they didn't spread it by the way). I just let them lay down in my office for a bit if they got too tired, and checked lots of temps. If they had a fever, they went home. Other than that, they did fine. I consider it a case by case kind of thing. Best of luck. Hope she's better soon!

 

[powellrj]

DS had it this fall. He is in college he went to the med check on Sunday and they gave him a note to excuse him from class until that Wednesday. There was no way he was in any condition to return that soon and I took him back to school to health center. They gave him a note that gave him an excused absence but no return date. He returned after 2 weeks, but he is still recovering. He comes home and will sleep for 16 hours a day on the weekends still.

 

[taximomfor4]

Mono is not easy to spread, and even so, is contagious well before and for a loooooooooong time after symptoms. So most peds don't recommend keeping the child out of school. Also, under 15-16 yrs old, the illness tends to be much more mild (or go completely unnoticed in the really young). So teens are often much sicker than children, with mono.

That said, dd had it last year at age 10. Her monocytes were very, very, VERY high (dr. said more like the numbers they see in very sick teenagers). She was out of school just because she couldn't stay awake for more than an hour, for a week or so. The ped instructed us to let her go back to school for limited hours afterward, and let dd decide what she felt she could handle. So she was at school, generally for about 2 hours. I had her call me when she needed to come home. Her spleen, after a week or so, did finally enlarge so she was forbidden to go to dance, P.E., and recess until it went back to normal (several weeks).

HTH some.

P.S. I did have the ped write a note to the school, and the school nurse called to discuss further several days later. DD was diagnosed end of November, went to school about 2 hours per day till Xmas break, then returned to school full time after break. She got mostly D's on her report card, she just wasn't awake enough hours of the day to complete all the work. Since the school wouldn't help us with the workload or make-up time, we just had her do SOME of it (like skip ALL projects).

 

[iwrbnd]

My son had it & missed 2 wks. Doctor said he could go back when he felt better. The last week he got sicker and his levels were so bad that hospitalization was even talked about. Well, that was on Friday so I told the school he would be out a lot longer. Wouldn't you know it but he turned the corner that weekend and was in school the following Monday? Weird virus!

 

[kristennn]

I would folow your doctors orders - and I would talk to your daughter about hygiene stuff like not sharing food/drinks and washing her hands frequently - avoiding touching her mouth - making sure not to tough her mouth to the drinking fountain etc. I would also make sure the school knows what she had.
I worry about mono a great deal since it could kill my child.

 

[rodeo65]

I don't think mine could have been considered a mild case. I had it when I was 18 - a looooooooong time ago - and was out for 3 months with it. I would have been hospitalized if my mom had not been able to take a leave from work and stay home with me.

This was back when we had grade 13 in Canada and I was in danger of not graduating. Fortunately, I had taken two grade 13 classes in grade 12 to lessen the load, so I ended up dropping all electives and managed to graduate. The universities I applied to took my grade 12 transcripts for evaluation on acceptance otherwise I would not have been able to get in. Wrecked my metabolism too.

It seemed to me to be pretty rare then, and we had never heard of it in younger kids. It was called the kissing disease and really seemed to be teenagers and young adults that got it. I went to a football game on a Friday night, felt awful before half time and went to my friends car, got in, crawled under all the coats in the backseat and slept until the game was over. After, there was a party which I was taken to since I wasn't the driver. I actually called my dad to come to the underage drinking party to pick me up I felt so sick - UNHEARD OF! My fever was 105.

Interesting that a PP said younger kids don't seem to be as affected by symptoms. I hope your daughter is well soon!

 

[luvsJack]

Dd was diagnosed with mono the week after Thanksgiving. The doc said she could go back to school 1 week after she started running fever, so by that she would have went back just a few days after she was diagnosed. She didn't actually go back until after Christmas, she stayed too tired and feeling bad to make the day.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

My 14 yr old DD got Mono a few weeks ago. She only missed 2 days of school. She never did develop a fever with it..mostly just a very sore and swollen throat and she was tired.

We were prepared to keep her out of school for a week or so, but she wanted to go back and the doctor gave her the o.k. The only thing was that she couldn't participate in gym for a couple of weeks.

From all the other stories I hear of recovery...we got very lucky with hers being so minor.

We were lucky like this too. My son had this just after we got back from Disney World. He never ran a fever but he tested positive for mono. He was back in school after about three days and has not missed a day since. I think the key is for them to get plenty of rest.

My friends DD who is in 1st grade also had it and she missed weeks at a time with it, for several months. But she also had her doing cheernastics several days a week and I honestly think this may have something to do with it. Plus, she is a very active little girl.

They told me that he could have Mono for 6 months.