Schools can serve as breeding grounds for harmful germs and bacteria that may cause common illnesses like flu. Now that school is about to resume, Westminster parents would likely pack along hand sanitizers into their kids’ bag or lunch as a precaution, and principals would make sure classrooms have them, too. An article in the Medical Daily, though, says that such efforts may not be enough to avoid spreadable diseases. Writer Samantha Olson reports:
Researchers examined the rate of school absences due to illness in 2,443 New Zealand children in 68 primary schools. Each of the 5-year-old children in the participating schools received a 30-minute long in-class hand hygiene education lesson. They taught the children to use the alcohol-based hand sanitizer dispensers that were installed into their classrooms after they sneezed or coughed and on the way out of the classroom during breaks and lunchtime. After two winter seasons, the researchers were surprised to find there wasn’t any difference between the classrooms they taught and requested hygiene routines, and those that carried on without special instructions or hand sanitizers in their classroom.
Although the study was conducted in New Zealand schools, the health risks posed by all other schools around the world are the same. Parents in Westminster, therefore, should go beyond relying on hand sanitizers and other instant-hygiene tools for their kids’ optimum protection. Instead, they should consult a reliable Westminster pediatrician about proven measures like vaccinations that can ward off different diseases more effectively.
Flu vaccination
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), grade school kids get 8 to 12 cases of colds or flu each year. Not all parents are aware that flu viruses evolve, making it essential for them to take their kids annually to Westminster pediatrics specialists for updated flu shots. Typical flu symptoms like runny or stuffy nose and itchy throat are nothing serious, but when they’re not kept in check, kids run the risk of suffering from complications like bacterial pneumonia and ear and sinus infections.
Mumps, measles, and chicken pox vaccinations
These three are highly contagious diseases, and in school environments, kids are likely to contract them from infected classmates or schoolmates. On their own, all three are not life-threatening, but if their symptoms are not contained, complications may arise. Complications from measles and chicken pox include encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain. The latter is a life-threatening viral infection, making those vaccinations extremely essential.
It’s the beginning of yet another school year for kids in America. Packing the usual hygienic products may no longer work to keep germs away. Parents should take their kids to pediatric offices like the Indian Crest Pediatrics for essential vaccinations.
(Source: Hand Sanitizers In Classrooms Don’t Stop Kids From Getting Sick Or Being Absent, medicaldaily.com, August 12, 2014)