So, your kids are back to school! Such an exciting time- new friends, new skills and knowledge, new experiences, and NEW GERMS. With great fortune, you and your family have probably been enjoying thesummer with its the warmer weather and all the fun activities and free time without worries of sniffly noses and fevers over the past couple of months. But here we find ourselves at the start of yet another school season, with all of our friends and the cooties they carry. Young school children will likely have many viral infections each school year. These infections may include head colds, coughs, stomach bugs, and a variety of rashes. This will in turn result in missed school days for your kiddo, lost workdays for yourself, and many sleepless nights.
What can a parent do to avoid the inevitable?
There is no magic that will keep all the colds away because every child does need a healthy exposure to germs to develop a strong immune system, but there are a couple efforts that are worth taking:
1) Follow your pediatrician’s recommendations for routine immunizations. Research shows that children who have received the recommended immunizations have not only better immunity
to the deadliest bacterial causes of head and chest infections for children (directly targeted by these immunizations), but they also get less viral infections.
2) Wash your hands. Teach your children to wash their hands with soap and water or use hand sanitizer after using the restroom, after playing, before eating, and after coughing or sneezing. Germs are everywhere, the best way to get the germs off are to wash them away.
3) Avoid touching your face. The way germs enter our bodies are getting past our natural defenses. Try to avoid touching your mouth and eyes. Also, don’t scratch, your skin is a great barrier for infection when it is intact.
4) Cover your coughs and sneezes. Teach your children to sneeze and cough into their elbows and away from others. (This is more a curtesy to others of course)
5) Consider taking a multivitamin. Research shows that vitamin C and zinc are among the nutrients that help to prevent viral illnesses when we have the right amount. The best way to get our essential vitamins and nutrients are through a well balance diet that includes a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and protein. Alas, we all have busy schedules, and daily multivitamin can help fill in the gaps that may happen in your diet from time to time.
6) Stay home when you are sick. The less coughing and sneezing going on in the classroom- the less the spread of germs. (Another curtesy for others)
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