While a new school year offers fresh experiences that foster growth and potential, it also brings coughing, sneezing, and fevers from catching a cold.

Here are a few basics to help keep your kids healthy throughout the school year.

Keep Germs at Bay

A school classroom is a breeding ground for germs.  Most young children make things worse by failing to practice good hygiene such as:

• Forgetting to wash hands before meal time
• Touching surfaces such as pencils, door knobs, desks, and other surfaces that harbor germs
• Touching their faces, spreading germs from their fingers to their mouths, noses, and eyes
• Spreading airborne illnesses by sneezing and coughing without covering their mouths

Why Kids Get Sick

We all get the occasional cough or runny nose, however, children are more prone to getting sick for reasons such as:

• Sitting in close proximity to their classmates
• Tend to have bad habits that easily spread germs
• They are more vulnerable to getting sick because their immune systems are still developing

How to Reduce Risk of Infection

While it’s impossible to completely eliminate the risk of infection, there are a few things you can do to reduce your child’s exposure to germs.

• Teach your kids to thoroughly wash your hands
• Get a seasonal flu shot to reduce your child’s risk of contracting influenza
• Tell your kids to use hand sanitizer throughout the day
•  Teach your kids to avoid toughing their faces and cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze
• Staying home when sick

Busy work schedules can make it difficult for parents to keep their children home when they’re sick.  Unfortunately, bringing kids to school sick can lead to outbreaks that affect other students.  If your child exhibits symptoms of an illness or infection, keep them home until they feel better.  But if their symptoms persist, be sure to bring them to AFC Urgent Care Arlington for treatment.  We treat cold and flu-like symptoms such as:

• Coughing
• Sneezing
• Fevers
• Congestion
• Muscle Fatigue
• And More

For more information about the services we provide, please call us at 781-648-4572.