With fall closing in, and winter soon on its way, the cold isn’t just affecting the trees. October is nearing and the flu season will begin. School just began, and School Nurse Kristy Hall has confirmed the rates of kids becoming sick throughout the school year.

“There’s an increase,” Hall said. “Especially during the first couple of weeks of the school year as kids are mingling together, not used to each other’s germs. Their immune systems become more ramped up. They’re exposed to more bacteria, more germs, they’re getting used to the new environment.”

The conditions for getting sick worsen as the year goes on, especially in schools.

“… the winter time is notorious for [spread of diseases], “ Hall said. ”You’re in enclosed places, enclosed spaces, in a building where there is coughing and sneezing and surfaces and that kind of thing.”

The increase of sickness can affect attendance in schools. The amount of students that go home increases. Hall states there’s around 20 to 30 kids sent home a day. Similarly,  Dr. Tami Iorio from Pediatrics notes the same trend.

“In pediatrics we have sick visits and well visits, and sick visits definitely increase from October through March,” Iorio said.

These illnesses can vary, though some are seen more than others. The spread of these illnesses typically involve similar methods of spread. Iorio said that respiratory diseases like the common cold, influenza, covid are transmitted by respiratory droplets

“If somebody has it and they cough or sneeze in the air and you are close by and breathe it in, you are at risk of getting sick,’ Iorio said.

Another disease spread by respiratory droplets is the flu, though there are common misconceptions.

“When doctors say flu, they mean something called influenza,” Iorio said. “That is a particular virus. There is influenza A and influenza B viruses.”  The flu is very contagious because of the way it’s spread. “[The flu is] spread by droplets in the air, cough, sneeze. That’s the main thing, it’s spread respiratory wise.”

These respiratory droplets can land on surfaces.

“Surfaces, if someone coughs or sneezes on a surface you can pick it up,” Hall said. “It’s spread by a virus.”

The flu can be dangerous to some people.

“Anybody with chronic respiratory problems should definitely be aware of the flu,” Hall said. “ I would recommend the vaccine for everyone if they wish to get it. It can be really dangerous,”

Vaccines can be used to prevent diseases that can cause harm. A lot of diseases that can cause harm can be prevented.

“Make sure your immunizations are up to date, because there are a lot of these diseases that are highly preventable, and if you get some of these they can cause serious, lifelong, long term damage.” Hall said

A disease known for this is Covid, and people worry that a new disease, Mpox (formerly known as Monkeypox) will become widespread. Iorio reassures this is not the case.

“ [Mpox is] less likely,” Iorio said. “It won’t become a worldwide epidemic because it’s transmitted in a different way.”

While Mpox does spread through respiratory droplets, it is less likely to do so compared to Covid. Different illnesses lead to different symptoms and need different ways to manage them.

“If you’re sneezing and coughing a lot you need to stay home,” Hall said. “ If it’s something that you can manage with a decongestant you’re going to take a decongestant. If it’s something like an itchy throat, drinking plenty of fluids will usually help that. A good diet, plenty of rest, making sure you get enough sleep [help fight off illnesses]. Something like a common cold; lots of handwashing. Something like strep you need to go to the doctor, you need to get an antibiotic for that. If you’ve just got a little sore throat it might be caused by drainage or allergies, you just need to make sure you get plenty of fluids, plenty of rest, take a little decongestant, anything like that; you can manage those symptoms on your own.”