Untreated, ear infections can lead to more serious complications, including mastoiditis (a rare inflammation of a bone adjacent to the ear), hearing loss, perforation of the eardrum, meningitis, facial nerve paralysis, and possibly -- in adults -- Meniere's disease.
DHEC publishes the School and Childcare Exclusion List each year. The Exclusion List explains how long an ill child, student, school employee, or childcare employee should stay out of school or childcare, and what is needed before the child/student or employee is permitted to return.
The school district must take steps to stop the harassment, such as transferring the child to another school. If your child is not going to school, you must ask the principal or a teacher for help. If you do nothing, the school may file a truancy action in court.