Cold season generally begins in September and ends in April. During these eight months, it feels nearly impossible to remain completely healthy. For many at Peru Jr/Sr High School, some students get sick as soon as August simply from going back to school. Sophomore, Sophia Greer says, “It takes me about two weeks to get sick but this year I was out the first week.”
School is full of germs so sickness spreads quickly. After a student’s immune systems get used to being away from school air for a couple months, coming back to school in the beginning of August is a hefty adjustment.
Elementary schools are usually more affected by these germs because of their fragile immune systems. Along with this, germy habits also largely contribute. Coughs and runny noses are just a common characteristic of school children because of how constantly illness spreads.
The common cold is the most common sickness to be spread because of its droplet spread. A droplet spread occurs when an infected person coughs or sneezes, spreading the illness to people nearby respiratorily.
More rarely, an outbreak can occur considering how easily illness travels in school. The flu, strep throat, and stomach viruses are 3 of the more serious but somewhat common diseases. They often will cause students and staff to miss school because of aggressive and debilitating symptoms. This then leads to the chance of these people infecting who they live with which will eventually lead to outbreaks in other workplaces and communities.
How can you prevent this? Some of the best things you can do for yourself and the people around you is washing your hands throughout the day before you eat or before you touch your eyes, nose, or mouth and keeping a healthy distance from an infected person. Do not share drinks or food for this is an extremely easy way for germs to spread person to person.
Getting sick is inevitable but we’ve experienced and fought a world-wide pandemic. Hopefully we’ve learned a thing or two about staying healthy and safe.
