Back to school means back to germs
Posted Aug 31, 2011 7:33 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s back to school time and according to the experts, that means the unofficial start to cold and flu season.
Health professionals say close contact in the classroom and hygiene issues makes school the perfect germ factory.
The Canadian Health and Hygiene Group’s Dr. Donald Low says we saw an example of this during the H1N1 pandemic; when kids went back to school, there was an increase in cases.
His best advice is to use common sense and make sure your kids are vaccinated.
“And when you’re in a classroom and someone is sick, when you come in contact with that person, try to protect yourself and wash your hands,” he says.
The microbiologist says as we get older, we develop better hygienic practices, we have less contact and we develop our own defences.
He adds there are hundreds of viruses and there’s no possibility that we’ll have a vaccine that protects us completely.
“It’s tough in school,” Low says. “I think you’ll find in most schools and in the washrooms, it’s tough keeping soap there and it’s tough to keep something to dry your hands so it’s not exactly a perfect environment for practicing good hygiene.”
Overall, he is encouraging children to get their flu shots, because they’re the ones bringing home the viruses to parents and grandparents.
He says people can’t protect ourselves from everything but it’s important we prevent the bad viruses.
