A food handler prepares and delivers meals to elderly individuals receiving services at home. What symptoms require this food handler to stay home from work?

A food handler exhibiting a sore throat with fever should stay home from work due to the potential risk of transmitting illnesses, particularly to vulnerable individuals such as the elderly. This combination of symptoms can indicate a communicable illness, such as streptococcal throat infection or other viral infections. For food handlers, it is crucial to prevent the spread of pathogens that could have serious health implications for those they serve, especially in home delivery situations where the recipients are often more susceptible to severe effects of foodborne illnesses.

In contrast, while vomiting is also a symptom that commonly warrants staying home due to the high risk of contamination, it is specifically the combination of sore throat and fever that poses a higher concern, as it suggests an infectious condition that can easily be transmitted through food or close contact. Cold and cough symptoms, while inconvenient, do not necessarily indicate an immediate risk of transmitting a more serious illness, and headaches could be caused by various non-infectious factors, making them less of a concern in this context.