As students return to campus for the fall semester, many are already dealing with back-to-school sickness.\u00a0Colds, coughs and sore throats are spreading quickly at colleges and universities across the region, including Fanshawe College in London, Ont., where packed lecture halls and shared living spaces are making it easier for viruses to travel.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been really hard, it\u2019s been spreading a lot recently, and I feel like commuting back and forth, it makes it even more difficult\u201d\u00a0one student said. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Another student added. \u201cSchool alone is pretty stressful, when you\u2019re sick and having to miss class, it just adds more stress.\u201d Others say \u201cit\u2019s so easy for the cold to spread specially in dorms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Health officials say the seasonal surge in respiratory illness is expected but still concerning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFall and winter are typically when we see a rise in respiratory illnesses,\u201d said Dr. Angela Ma, a public health physician with the Middlesex-London Health Unit. \u201cOur main concern is preventing severe outcomes\u00a0like hospitalizations and deaths.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She says the health unit works closely with local hospitals and community partners each season to promote illness prevention and vaccination.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn respiratory season, the viruses that we prepare for and we see most commonly would be COVID-19, influenza, and RSV,\u201d said Dr. Ma. She emphasized that both the COVID-19 and influenza vaccines are \u201chighly recommended\u201d for students, and will be available at local pharmacies once released.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For students, that means hand sanitizer, tissues, and cold medicine are back in high demand along with good habits like rest, hydration, and staying home when sick.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m trying to take better care of myself this year,\u201d a student said. \u201cBut when everyone around you is coughing, it\u2019s hard not to catch something.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As colder weather approaches, health experts are urging students to stay informed and take precautions\u00a0even if it feels like just another fall cold.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As students return to campus for the fall semester, many are already dealing with back-to-school sickness.\u00a0Colds, coughs and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146471,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[5991,5992,5995,5985,5983,49,48,5989,5988,5986,3290,5649,75,1048,5980,84,5997,5987,5979,5993,5984,884,4472,341,44,905,329,5981,1893,5982,3495,82,1390,5990,5996,5978,5994],"class_list":["post-146470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-106-9","tag-106-9-the-x","tag-1069thex","tag-announcer","tag-broadcast","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cixx","tag-cixx-fm","tag-college-confidential","tag-contests","tag-documentaries","tag-entertainment","tag-events","tag-fanshawe-college","tag-health","tag-host","tag-in-your-backyard","tag-journalism","tag-ldnont","tag-listen-live","tag-local-news","tag-london","tag-music","tag-news","tag-ontario","tag-podcasts","tag-promotions","tag-radio","tag-sales","tag-shows","tag-sports","tag-talk","tag-the-x","tag-thex","tag-xfm-news","tag-xfmnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}