Children's health (26)
- Stepfamilies: How to help your child adjust
- Children and sports: Choices for all ages
- Recipes for kids: Hands-on teaching about healthy eating
- see all in Children's health
Preschoolers (11)
- Child sleep: Put preschool bedtime problems to rest
- Thumb sucking: Help your child break the habit
- Sex education: Talking to toddlers and preschoolers about sex
- see all in Preschoolers
Elementary students (10)
- Sex education: Talking to your school-age child about sex
- School health: The ABCs of staying healthy at school
- Bullying: Help your child handle a school bully
- see all in Elementary students
Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
School health: The ABCs of staying healthy at school
Do you know why school kids get sick so often? The best ways to prevent illness in the classroom? Get the answers to these school health questions and more.
By Mayo Clinic staffDoes it seem as if your child is sick all the time? In the early school years, your child's immune system is put to the test. After all, young children in large groups are breeding grounds for the organisms that cause illness. Here's why infectious illness is so common — and what your child can do to stay healthy in the classroom.
How infections spread
Many childhood illnesses are caused by viruses. All it takes is a single child to bring a virus to school for the spread to begin. Consider this common scenario — a child who has a cold coughs or sneezes in the classroom. The children sitting nearby inhale the infected respiratory droplets and the cold spreads. Or perhaps a child who has diarrhea uses the toilet and returns to the classroom without washing his or her hands. Illness-causing germs might spread from anything the sick child touches to other children who touch the same object and then put their fingers in their mouths.
Next page(1 of 2)
- CDC says "Take 3" steps to fight the flu. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/flu/freeresources/2009-10/pdf/h1n1_take3.pdf. Accessed March 25, 2010.
- Mink CM, et al. Infections in child-care facilities and schools. Pediatrics in Review. 2009;30:259.
- Nandrup-Bus I. Mandatory handwashing in elementary schools reduces absenteeism due to infectious illness among pupils: A pilot intervention study. American Journal of Infection Control. 2009;37:820.
- Sandora TJ, et al. Reducing absenteeism from gastrointestinal and respiratory illness in elementary school students: A randomized, controlled trial of an infection-control intervention. Pediatrics. 2008;121:e1555.
- Aiello AE, et al. Personal health: Bringing good hygiene home. American Journal of Infection Control. 2008;36(suppl):s152.
- Bright KR, et al. Occurrence of bacteria and viruses on elementary classroom surfaces and the potential role of classroom hygiene in the spread of infectious diseases. Journal of School Nursing. 2010;26:33.
Find Mayo Clinic on