Hello, High School

Classes and extracurriculars may start piling up, so parents, be sure to stay in tune with your child’s stress levels. Sharing stress management techniques may help highschoolers handle this new level of responsibility and keep their immune system strong as a result. As always, keeping the fridge stocked with healthy snack options is beneficial, too. Oh, and there’s one new sickness on the radar.

Mononucleosis crops up most in people ages 15 through 17, and while it’s not terribly common, the symptoms can last for months. It’s known to be spread through kissing but can also travel on shared utensils, drinks, lip glosses or anything else that touches the mouth, so kindly request your teens keep their saliva to themselves.

Hygiene In High School

By this point, we all know washing hands is important to prevent sickness. That is, everyone knows it except for those stinkin’ teenagers. WebMD.com references a study that found only about half of high school students wash their hands after using the bathroom, and of those, only 33 percent of the girls and a gross 8 percent of the boys actually used soap. Send your teen to school with a mini hand sanitizer for their own convenience, and try to impress upon them that the importance of hand washing didn’t end in pre-K.

Off To College

a surefire way to increase exposure to illnesses of every severity. Living in a dorm compounds those chances, as tight quarters are a given. How can new students stay healthy?

The CDC recommends that first-year college students living in residence halls receive the meningococcal conjugate vaccine or get a booster shot if they had it before their 16th birthday to be safe. That’s because meningitis thrives in community spaces just like dorms and is most common in adolescents and young adults. It’s spread by saliva, living with a contaminated person and even breathing air where someone with meningitis has been. It’s easy to see why numerous campus outbreaks have been reported in recent years.

DORM DOS AND DON’TS

How can your college student keep sickness at bay while living in a dorm?

1DON’T LEAVE TOOTHBRUSHES, TOWELS OR OTHER PERSONAL ITEMS IN THE BATHROOM WHERE GERMS MAY CRAWL ONTO THEM (or less gracious neighbors may use them).

2DON’T SHARE UTENSILS OR DISHES, ESPECIALLY WITH SOMEONE WHO IS CLEARLY SICK.

3STAY CURRENT ON VACCINATIONS. This keeps individuals safe and gives illnesses one less person to use as a transmission vehicle. Many schools include health fees in tuition, so ask the student health center about vaccinations included in that cost— the annual flu shot may already be paid for.

4STUDENTS SHOULD KEEP PERSONAL SPACE CLEAN AND DISINFECT DOORKNOBS AND SHARED SURFACES FREQUENTLY.

5MOM AND DAD, MAKE SURE TO STRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF EATING WELL, PRIORITIZING SLEEP AND MANAGING STRESS NOW THAT YOUR KIDDO IS IN CHARGE OF HIS OR HER OWN IMMUNE SYSTEM. Oh, and toss some travel-size hand sanitizer into those care packages!