Avoid the Flu

As spring continues, flu numbers increase

Flu shots, hand sanitizer, and Kleenex to the rescue. That’s right. The flu is back.

Rider nurse Kristi Lane said flu symptoms have been seen every day over the past couple of months. Doctors have confirmed cases of Type A and Type B for some students.

According to a survey in Gallup-Health-ways Well-Being-Index, the flu has been worse this year than the past two. Many may wonder why the flu rate is so high this year.

“We use too many medications and our resistance is down because of all the germ-x we use,” Physics teacher Brittany Bailey said.

Many say there are also other reasons.

“I think the flu is increasing because of the different weather patterns we’ve had this year,” freshman Rebekah Conley said.

Moreover, many health public analysts say that ‘flu vaccinations this season contain more seasonal influenza and pandemic H1N1 components than last season’. In other words, flu shots are more effective this year, but they do not stop the flu completely.

Since this is the case, many look to other necessary steps to fight the flu.

“I think that staying at home and resting is very necessary to fight the flu if you have it,” freshman Luke Draper said.

There are other vital ways in order to avoid the flu.

“Wash your hands, don’t eat or drink after anybody, and do not cough on your hand or arm, but in a tissue instead because germs are spread by touching door-knobs and water fountains,” nurse Kristi said.

Swine Flu: Student stories

Swine flu; the pandemic that’s sweeping the nation.
Junior Ben Cummings originally thought he just had strep.
“I went to the school nurse who then told me to go to a doctor who told me I had swine flu,” Cummings said. “I got the medicine early enough so I wasn’t sick as long.”
The average person has the swine flu for 3-5 days, no longer than the regular flu.
“I was out of school for a week, luckily, some teachers exempted me from work I missed,” senior Lindsey O’Donnell said. “I was in bed the whole time, I couldn’t eat anything. I had horrible headaches and couldn’t move my head.”
O’Donnell found out she had an underlying thyroid condition that made it take longer to recover from swine flu.
“When I had swine flu, I also found out I had Graves,” O’Donnell said. “It’s preventing me from swimming right now.”
Even though he was only sick for a short time Cummings still felt terrible the entire time.
“I felt like I had been hit by a train,” Cummings said. “It was so contagious, I couldn’t leave the house or chill with my friends at all.”
A few precautions you can take to avoid the flu are hand washing, not coughing in your sleeve, and as nurse Lane said, “not breathing in school.”
“Everyone also needs to calm down,” school nurse Christy Lane said. “Swine flu is less severe than regular flu, and it’s not even flu season yet.”
Swine flu is causing a global panic, it’s contagious and people don’t know anything about it.
“I was thinking, ‘can’t people die from this,’ Cummings said.
O’Donnell thought it was the regular flu, but then she kept getting sicker and sicker.
“It was the worst flu I ever had,” O’Donnell said. “It wasn’t as bad as it’s made out to be, but it was still horrible.”
Lane said they usually send about 30 students home a day, 15 of those for flu and 10 for swine flu.
“Those with flu-like illnesses should stay home for at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever, without medicine,” the Center for Disease Control said in a recent news release. “People may be able to infect others up to seven days after getting sick.”