As winter arrived, some may remember the chaos of disease spread before the holiday break, and want to prevent the same events from happening again.

“Before the break everyone is anticipating time off with family and friends, so there is excitement which is normal and natural. I don’t think people go into the break or vacation planning on getting sick or spreading sickness, but it happens,” said health teacher John Foley.

Before the holiday break, one of the bustling places as a result of disease spread was the Nurses’ Office. 

“[Before the holiday break] it was very busy, we saw a lot of sick kids with various illnesses…, and we sent a lot of kids home,” said school nurse Susannah Gulino, R.N.

After the holiday break was no better, as many students had a prolonged break from being sick.

“[After the break] we definitely did see a bunch of students that were out for extended periods of time [and] missing class due to illness, unfortunately,” said biology teacher Patricia Tremaroli.

Many students had spread the same diseases to one another before and after the break. There were some common and new illnesses that popped up during this time.

“[We saw] COVID, the flu, [and] a virus that we didn’t know what it was. We saw a lot of pink eye, which actually developed into some type of virus, a lot of stomach issues, nausea, vomiting, stuff like that,” said Gulino.

There are many reasons for the spreading of these diseases. The season of the winter break had an exemplified amount of disease spread because of some unhealthy practices that people adapted. 

“I think that people are going back to pre-COVID behaviors of less handwashing, less mask wearing, and closer physical distance. I think those are probably the three big things,” said Foley.

There are also some actions that prolong the disease spread throughout the break.

“Going to large places with many people, whether amusement parks, resorts, [or] even just very tight quarters [like] movie theaters. I’m finding that where you typically want to go on vacation are probably the worst spots to go on vacation right now,” said Tremaroli.

Even though diseases are spreading, it doesn’t mean that trips should be canceled or students should stay inside the house. There are some things you can do to help with preventing the spread of diseases.

“The universal precautions [are] mask-wearing, hand washing, physical distance. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in school or out of school, those are good practices to help prevent the spread of any type of disease,” said Foley.

Another thing to consider is staying away from those that are sick or quarantining, to help decrease the spread. These practices are effective and should be practiced to help with making the most of and enjoying your well deserved break.🔳