JUPITER CHRISTIAN SCHOOL – Jupiter Christian nurses give their insights about illnesses spreading around JCS.
As many people know, school is a very common place for illnesses to spread. Luckily, we have our nurses, Ms. Abby and Ms. Erika, to help manage the illnesses here at JCS. The nurses were interviewed to give their insights on when and how illnesses spread and how to prevent them from spreading around Jupiter Christian.
To begin, depending on the season, illnesses can vary. In the beginning of the school year, the most common sickness in the office is the Flu. During other seasons, they see many fevers and the underlying causes of that. They say that the most common time for illnesses is the beginning of the school year. Ms. Abby said, “The beginning of the school year is very high, usually August to September.” There is usually a break for a little while until the holidays, around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then there is another small break, until around February and March, then the illness rate picks up again.
The nurses have noticed recently that the rates of illnesses have slightly increased. “There has been a lot of Flu going around and a lot of Stomach Virus,” said Ms. Abby. They have noticed the increase, but it is not substantial enough to cause concern. This slight increase is a little shocking though, because typically, the illness rates do not increase until a bit later in the season. They say that a main reason why illnesses spread so easily around campus is because students and teachers don’t wash their hands frequently. Another factor is the younger students are very close to each other, which can easily spread sickness. Another main cause is not covering one’s mouth when sneezing or coughing, contaminating everything.
Lastly, the nurses gave some pointers to prevent us from getting sick. The most obvious way would be to wash your hands frequently. This prevents germs on your hands from going into your mouth, eyes, nose, etc. The most overlooked prevention is to keep your immune system healthy and strong. Ms. Abby and Ms. Erika suggested, “Vitamins, eating well, drinking, sleeping, and exercising.” While these may not seem very helpful, they are crucial to strengthening not just your body, but your immune system too. These nurses use many of the same precautions to keep themselves healthy. They believe that they do not get sick as much as a regular teacher or adult would, because they have built immunity and strengthened their body. If all students and teachers continue to use these precautions, eventually illness rates will die down.
To conclude, the nurses Ms. Abby and Ms. Erika, gave wonderful insight to navigating the illnesses at Jupiter Christian. They explained when and how illnesses spread on campus, and how to protect oneself and others from becoming ill. To stop the spread of illnesses at JCS, students and teachers should really put into play all that the nurses had to say.
