Colds and flu, viral gastroenteritis, childhood diseases, but also lice. These are just some of the ailments that come with the start of school, draw the attention of doctors. Here is the list of diseases that will explode starting this month, as compiled by epidemiologists.
The new school year comes with a lot of communicable diseases. Photo source: The Truth
Flu and colds, in first place in the list of diseases at the beginning of the school year
“In the first place in the list of diseases that will affect children are the flu and the cold”, epidemiologist Emilian Popovici, vice-president of the Romanian Association of Epidemiology, told Adevărul. “The moment children meet at school, whatever measures you take, if they are not vaccinated the virus will be passed from one to another and they will get sick. Then, they will transmit the virus further at home to parents, siblings, grandparents. Here things are quite simple: the vaccine prevents the disease”, the specialist also said.
The doctor recommends parents not to leave children in the community if they show signs of illness, and teachers to encourage the little ones to wash their hands as often as possible. “Parents should know that after at least 24 afebrile hours the child can be brought into the community without the risk of making others sick. Basically, if you don’t send the sick child to school, you’ve cut the thread of infections. As for the educators, teachers, professors, they must insist on the rules of personal hygiene that must be respected by the children. Dirty hands are the hands that spread disease. But students must also know how to cough and sneeze in such a way as to limit the transmission of any disease. Having napkins with you is mandatory.”
Vaccination, recommended between September 15 and October 15
The doctor recommends that parents vaccinate their children against the flu. “We can all get vaccinated from September 15th until October 15th. This is the ideal period. After two weeks of immunization we will be completely protected. Practically, starting from October, we should no longer have any fear that we will get sick with the flu”, the specialist also specifies. As for this year’s flu vaccine, we will have a trivalent serum, says the epidemiologist. “Last year I had a tetravalent vaccine. So with four components: there were two A viruses and two B viruses. This year it went back to the trivalent vaccine, the classic one for influenza vaccination: two strains A and one B. The reason why one of the strains was abandoned was that it was inactive” .
As an indication for vaccination, the specialist says, priority should be given to people with an organism more vulnerable to infections. “This is about people with chronic diseases, especially cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Be careful though! Those who are allergic to egg should avoid vaccination, because the vaccine produced on the basis of embryonated egg can trigger serious allergic reactions”.
Viral gastroenteritis
Viral gastroenteritis ranks second in the list of diseases that could affect children once they start school. Viruses are transmitted intensively in the community. “Rotavirus, norovirus and some types of adenovirus are very easily transmitted. Once he has contacted the virus, the child could have, in addition to fever, soft stools, diarrhea and episodes of vomiting. “And these symptoms can lead to dehydration, which is why the patient must be very well hydrated. As for prevention, this is done by following the essential rules of hygiene. As with the flu and colds, the doctor recommends that parents keep children away from the community at the first signs of illness.
Lice
We want to, we don’t want to, we have to talk about them too because with the start of school, these parasites also make their presence felt. “Children must be taught not to borrow their hats, caps, or use other people’s hairbrushes or combs. And parents, on the other hand, should periodically check the little ones, observe whether these parasites are present or not.”
Viral conjunctivitis
Another condition that occurs mainly at the beginning of the school year is viral conjunctivitis. “Children should be taught to wash their hands as often as possible and not to touch their eyes. I can only touch my eyes with a clean napkin.” Once in contact with the virus, the child will water, the eye will become red, irritated and sensitive to light. Viral conjunctivitis is triggered by a virus, therefore the infected child must be withdrawn from the community, the specialist says.
Childhood diseases
Mumps, measles, chicken pox…childhood diseases will also break out during this period, especially because the parents, some of them stubbornly, refuse vaccination. “Vaccines are very effective, they prevent the disease, they prevent the complications of the disease and very often they save lives. We only have two big options: either we vaccinate our child and protect him from the disease, or we don’t vaccinate him and risk the disease and its complications”. attracts the attention of the specialist.
Dr. Emilian Popovici explained that with regard to Covid, in Romania there is currently no updated vaccine, dedicated to the strain currently circulating. “There are countries, the USA for example, that have the anti-Covid vaccine for this 2024-2025 season. We don’t have it. However, the number of cases of illness that end up in intensive care is very low, and the number of deaths is also extremely low. It’s not a situation that worries us”the epidemiologist also specified.
At the beginning of the school year, the Ministry of Education also sent some advice on preventing illnesses among children. These measures must be respected by schools and also by parents. The officials listed the medical documents that must be presented when enrolling in a new education cycle, reminded about the triage in schools and drew up a list of hygiene rules. Among them: maintaining hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene and classroom hygiene. Among the preventive measures recommended by the ministry is the vaccination of children against the seasonal flu.
