As school gets into full swing, so do the illnesses that kids get going back to school. Many parents become perplexed as to why every year when their children return to school, the runny noses, fever, coughs, sneezes and sore throats also return.Dr. Kent Herbert, family practitioner at Falcon Family Medicine, said children of all ages could be susceptible to illnesses. He said there is a big spike of illnesses in schools during the first month of school and the winter months.”Typically, kindergarten through first and second grade is exposed to all sorts of viruses they have never been exposed to,” Herbert said, “Middle school and high school students who are involved in more activities and late nights with homework get sick because they are tapped out.”Herbert said upper respiratory infections, bronchitis, the common cold, intestinal stomach flu, pink eye and strep throat are common illnesses children contract.”A lot of times things can be dealt with at home,” Herbert said. “The first days of a cold or virus can be helped with over-the-counter medication, rest and lots of fluid.”Sue Ader, D 49 school nurse, said that when a child has a fever over 100 degrees, parents are asked to pick up their child from school. Ader recommends keeping children at home if they have had a fever in the last 24 hours, are vomiting or have severe cold symptoms. She said if children are prescribed antibiotics for a bacterial infection, such as for strep throat or pink eye, they are usually not contagious 24 hours after starting the antibiotic.”Encourage good hand washing,” she said, “Students and teachers should use hand wash rinse in their class, students should wash their hands after recess and there should be teaching in the classroom about hand washing.”Pediatrician and El Paso County Department of Health and Environment Medical Director Bernadette Albanese agreed.”Schools can be breeding grounds for germs,” Albanese said. “Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands.”The Southern Colorado Clean Hands Campaign, sponsored by the health department, stresses the importance of hand washing.”It is important for parents, adults and older kids to model it for them. It’s the single most effective way to avoid getting sick.” Albanese said covering the mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing is also vital. “If we could follow these two simple rules we could avoid a lot of these illnesses.”Herbert also recommends not sharing cups, food, or gum; maintaining a healthy diet and exercising regularly.Although the spread of germs is a major cause of illness, environmental factors could have an effect on what viruses and germs are circulating, Herbert said. Dust exposure, allergies and second-hand smoke can contribute to the severity of an illness.”Especially in Falcon, exposure to dust and wind will trigger allergies,” Herbert said. “That can lead to infections due to a predisposed illness that isn’t treated.”Albanese said two types of germs cause infections – viral and bacterial. Viral infections are the most common causes of the common cold, cough illnesses, influenza and bronchitis. She said viral infections go away on their own if not treated with antibiotics. Most bacterial infections, on the other hand, such as strep throat, ear infections and sinus infections, are treated with antibiotics. She said antibiotics have absolutely no effect on viral infections, and overusing antibiotics should be avoided.A flu vaccine is recommended for children six months to under 5 years old and for children with health issues, such as asthma or frequent lung infections, Herbert said. Flu shots do not cause a person to get the flu because it is not a live virus, he said, but cold symptoms may develop. Because it takes two weeks to become immune to the flu after the vaccine is administered, people might think the flu vaccine gave them the flu, when they may have actually already been exposed to the virus.Administering other immunizations to children is a hot topic for parents and health care professionals. Ader said Colorado’s immunization law requires children entering kindergarten to have five diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus (DPT) vaccinations; four polio vaccinations; two measles, mumps, and reubella (MMR) vaccinations; three Hepatitis B vaccinations; and a chickenpox vaccination.Parents can opt out of immunizing their children for religious, medical or personal reasons. “We strongly discourage that, but we have to accept it,” Ader said.School immunization requirements vary by state, Albanese said. Schools may not require some immunizations because the area does not see an illness often. “Truly having control of a disease in a community happens only if a high number of people get them,” she said.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesperson Curtis Allen said, “Parents don’t understand some diseases are still circulating in other parts of the world, and it can return to the U.S. on the next plane.”Having large segments of the population immunized protects people who are not immunized, he said. “Community immunity” is the term used when about 90 percent of the population is immunized against a specific illness. Allen said that with that amount of coverage it is unlikely to have transmission between people because the transmission is broken.”Vaccines are a safety net to protect the school population. Some parents are more afraid of the vaccine than the disease,” Allen said. “Parents are concerned about their child and certainly don’t want to put them at risk, but vaccinations are closely monitored for adverse effects and are FDA licensed.”
