Galveston County Daily News, May 23, 2007By Drs. Sally Robinson and Keith Bly Parents send their children to day care for a variety of reasons, but the two most important are to give children a head start in education and to allow a single parent to hold a job or a family to enjoy the fruits of a second income. In many work situations, missing from a day to a week of work does not endear you to your employer, so mom and dad want to know just when it is really necessary to keep a child at home. This is not a simple problem. The interests of the community, the child care center and the family are not the same. In fact, your parental interests are not always the same. For example, as a parent you may want all sick children kept from attending your child’s day care program, but when Junior is “just a little under the weather,” you may insist that he be allowed to attend. In 1992, the American Academy of Pediatrics joined with the American Public Health Association — the guiding body for many public health officers — to mediate the interests of employers, workers, parents, day care providers and the general public by agreeing on guidelines about when “a little sickness” is just a little and when it becomes too much. That policy was reviewed and updated early this year. Much of the document was meant for the health professional, but explanations of the dangers of different infections to children is of interest to parents as well.