Viruses return full force

By Caitlin Kenny

kenn0290@algonquincollege.com

Niki Thompson is miserable.

As she waits to see a doctor at Algonquin’s Health Services, the silence of the waiting room is broken only by her persistent coughing and sniffling.

“My lungs are very sore and I get really tired and really hot,” said the first-year dental assistant student.

Lately, instead of sleeping, she’s been spending her nights tossing and turning. And her days aren’t much better, considering her symptoms forced her to miss a day of school.

“I woke up and just couldn’t make it,” she said between coughs. “I felt too crappy.”

She’s not alone. Many coughing, congested students have grudgingly made their way back to Algonquin for the new semester.

Although it can be frustrating, it’s hard to dodge these winter sicknesses. The return to crowded classrooms, along with a lack of sleep and vitamins, can make students especially vulnerable to catching a cold or flu.

“There are a lot of people on campus,” said Dr. Rick Rowland, who has been working at Algonquin as a medical doctor for 21 years. “The more people you have, the more chance there is to catch something.”

For the flu specifically, or “a cold on steroids” as Rowland jokingly refers to it, its increased presence can be blamed on the season. In Ontario, the flu season generally runs from November to March, hitting its peak in January and February.

Both the cold and the flu are respiratory illnesses that are caused by a virus. They are transmitted through contact with the droplets that rain down as a sick person coughs or contaminated surfaces like tabletops or keyboards. This makes handwashing a key to prevention, says Kathy McLeod, a registered nurse at Algonquin.

To avoid the flu bug, McLeod recommends getting the flu shot, which is available to students free of charge at Health Services.

For those who worry that the flu shot will make them sick, Annie Roussel, the supervisor of Ottawa’s community immunization clinics, assures that this is just a myth.

“It wouldn’t make you sick,” she said. “The injection uses a killed virus. If you do happen to get sick, it’s probably because you were already getting sick.”

Although the final numbers aren’t in yet, Roussel said that by mid-December 36,000 people had been immunized at Ottawa public health clinics alone.

Such prevention is critical considering there is no easy fix for a cold or flu.

“Being that colds and flus are viral, antibiotics aren’t going to cure it,” said McLeod. “A huge percentage of students we see come to us for cough and colds but there really isn’t much that can be done other than teach them about symptomatic relief.”

Unless symptoms are extreme or unusual, Rowland recommends basic self-care as the best way to recovery. “I know students look at me and laugh hysterically when I say to get enough rest and eat well, but it can be done,” he said with a chuckle.

Other than those basics, over-the-counter decongestants may offer relief, but Rowland warns that they sometimes come with more side effects than benefits.

His personal make-it-yourself recommendation: Iced tea powder prepared with hot water to relieve congestion. “You’re not going to see that in textbooks, but it’s my favourite."