In the classrooms and in the hallways, you hear it around every corner: “Ahek-ahek!”, “Achoo!”, “Ahem!”. That’s right, it’s the season of sickness.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the average death toll from the flu each year is around 36,000 people nationwide. As it is a public health hazard, the amount of people who get sick can be enough to shut down a workplace, or even a school. That’s what happened in La Grange recently when 25 percent of the students were out sick.
Out of 730 students at Nazareth Academy in La Grange, around 180 students were absent from school on Dec. 8 due to the flu virus, according to Alena Murguia, a spokeswoman for the school.
In an interview with Fox News, Murguia said, “When you reach a critical mass, it’s better to just shut everything down and disinfect. We’ll have a heavy-duty cleaning plan in effect for all the students’ and teachers’ desks, classrooms, and common areas.”
School officials believe a factor to the mass amount of people sick was due to many people who were the first to catch the virus not staying home due to the fact that final exams were the following week. Tests were not rescheduled, but teachers edited them for content that was not covered due to the school’s closing.
Ten percent of the Oak Park elementary school was absent in mid-December, according to the Chicago Tribune, due to the flu bug spreading rapidly. A total of 563 students and a few dozen school employees stayed home from school in District 97.
Chris Jasculca, the district’s spokesperson, discussed the matter in an interview with the Tribune: “From what I have heard, the absences seem to relate to the spread of the flu,” he said.
Every year, schools and workplaces expect flu outbreaks as it comes with every colder season. Each year expects a different set of strains of influenza, and although it is always expected that the flu will spread like wildfire throughout the nation, its timing depends greatly on the length of the season and the severity of the strain.
With cold and flu season here, it’s important for everyone to take precautionary steps to stay healthy. Here are five tips to fight the flu season.
1) The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says that everyone should wash their hands. This may seem like a simple step, but the key is consistency. Scrub your hands with lots of soap and warm water, making sure to wash for at least 15 seconds. Washing hands after school, before you eat, and anytime you come home is important to keep healthy. Carrying a bottle of hand sanitizer is always a great idea as well!
2) Disinfecting common surfaces is crucial to keeping yourself healthy, according to BuzzFeed. We touch a lot throughout the day, such as computers, countertops, and especially cell phones. Grab some disinfectant wipes and clean these things to fight against bacteria. With as much as we hold onto and touch them, it’s just as important to wash these things as it is to wash our hands!
3) Everyone should get a flu shot, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Getting one has never been easier with things like the drugstore walk-in clinics, such as the ones at Walgreens and CVS, that offer these vaccines in both needle and nasal form. To combat against the common strains of flu that are different to each season, it’s a great step to keep yourself away from the illness.
4) According to BuzzFeed, it’s important to keep a good diet, including lots of vitamins. Vitamins C and E are the best to help strengthen your immune system, so foods like strawberries, almonds, oranges, and spinach are going to be an extra step in keeping yourself healthy. Taking a regular vitamin is also a good way to keep yourself balanced.
5) The Huffington Post says that it’s crucial to get a good night’s sleep on a regular basis, but especially during flu season. With finals coming up, we’re all very tempted to drop a few hours of sleep for extra study time. One of the most important ways to take care of yourself is to give your body time to rest. The average recommendation for teenagers is eight to ten hours of sleep per night, according to The Sleep Foundation. Although this may be out of reach for some people, it may be a good idea to start your homework an hour earlier in order to catch a few more z’s at night.
