The flu is a major part of the upcoming months of this school year. Students start getting sick and miss school causing them to fall behind in their classes.  

Flu season is the time of year when students start dropping like flies, but contrary to popular belief, anyone can get the flu at any time of year. Pam Cinadr has been the nurse at Pleasant Valley High School for about 20 years.

“Flu season at Pleasant Valley usually starts at the end of November, but it intensifies in January,” Cinadr said. “A lot of people like to say they have the flu because they are coughing or are puking but if you don’t have a fever you don’t have the flu.”

There are two main types of the flu: one in the respiratory department and the other in the digestive department. But all types of the flu have one common symptom: fever.

The problem with the flu is that once someone in the school does have the flu, then the whole school seems to get it. Philip George, a social studies teacher, said that “it [the flu] moves through a class in a staggered way. One week, two kids from any given class are out sick, and the next week two different kids in the same class are out sick.”

This is the problem with being in a public building with others who may not even know they have the flu or come back to school when they are still contagious, because of the amount of contact we have with things that that infected person also was in contact with. Hundreds of students touch the stair rails, the classroom desks, and the door handles every day. This facilitates the spread of viruses like the flu throughout the school.

Cinadr recommends that “teachers wipe down their desk on a daily basis” to help prevent the spread of not only the flu but also other viruses around the school. Kelly Fermoyle, juvenile court liaison and Flex teacher, says she tries to “wipe down the tables and computers in her room every morning during the flu season.”

That is just one way to fight the spread of the flu around the school. Students should wash their hands regularly, keep hand sanitizer in their lockers and get the flu shot. Cinder’s best advice if you have the beginning signs of the flu is to “see your doctor and get tested so they can prescribe an antiviral like Tamiflu.” Then, to get over the flu as quickly as possible “wash your hands, get plenty of sleep and eat healthy.”

People tend to think little of the flu and therefore lack the knowledge to successfully overcome it in a quick manner. For more information or questions, visit Nurse Cinadr in the nurse’s office located in the cafeteria.