"The cough and sniffle question"

I saw this article when looking for something else at the NY Times website, but didn't read it, thinking that schools and daycare centers have specific rules and therefore there is little more to know. But I did read it later, because my friend Lynda sent it to me, and I was so glad that I did - it should be required reading for nervous parents. (It was one of the top emailed stories at the site today.) I certainly appreciate the perspective that germs are there all winter and there is no particular reason to fret about the kids with runny noses or persistent coughs. Too many germ-phobes with not enough real worries are convinced that they can actually protect their kids from germs, as if this were even desireable.

P.S. I read Perri Klass's memoir about her time in med school, A Not Entirely Benign Procedure which was excellent and I can't recommend it strongly enough.