With the cold and flu season just around the corner, odds are students are bound to get sick sometime this year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (or CDC) in 2008, 200,000 people are hospitalized because of the flu, and 36,000 people die from it each year. The influenza virus is not to be taken lightly, and everyone should take these simple steps and measures to prevent them from catching this potentially deadly virus.

One of the biggest ways to prevent getting the flu is to get an annual flu shot. Studies show that getting the shot will half the risk of catching the virus. The CDC also states that everyone at least 6 months and older should get the flu shot. This shot works by implanting the deactivated, or killed, virus into your blood stream, so that your body can identify it and know how to fight it off when the real virus invades your body, and because the virus is deactivated, there is an absolute zero chance of getting the flu from this shot.

The most important thing to do, and probably the one most students have heard before, is to wash your hands. Wash your hands after sneeze or cough, wash them before you eat, and especially after being around other ill people. Germs collect on your hands, and whatever you touch, so it’s very possible can pick up other harmful germs that can make yourself sick. You also do not want to spread your germs for other people to pick up.

When washing your hands, make sure to use an adequate amount of soap and water. Wash both sides of your hands, including the fingernails. Then scrub for 20 seconds, or approximately the time to sing “Happy Birthday” twice. When you’re done, dry your hands with a paper towel, and not a hand towel, because they can spread germs.

If needed, use hand sanitizer in between hand washes and when no water is available. 60% anti-bacterial hand sanitizer or more does the trick well. Be sure to not use this by itself, because there is no substitution for soap and water.

According to the Minnesota Department of Health, studies show that over 90% of people say they wash their hands, but only 75% of females and 58% of males actually wash their hands. In a similar study conducted using middle and high school students, 50%  say they wash, but only 33% of females and 8% of males used soap while washing. This is very disturbing, because it shows that not only do many people lie, but also because these people let germs spread everywhere they go, especially so with whatever they touch.

A very big measure to take to prevent the spread of sickness is to blow your nose and cough into a tissue. If no tissue is found, use your elbow or upper arm, and not your hands, to cover your cough or sneeze. When you are done, discard the tissue into a waste basket.

If at all possible, stay away from other people who are sick, or if they show signs of being sick. Do not share their things, such as cups, utensils, Chap Stick, or anything of the sort. This risks getting yourself sick, because germs are transferred through these things.

Try not to touch your mouth, nose, or eyes too much. The germs from your hands will then enter your body through these orifices, and can get you sick.

When you are sick, please do your peers a favor and stay home to avoid spreading the sickness. Staying home is the best option when you are sick. Everyone would rather keep you home safe and away from other people than at school feeling awful and very contagious.

Please be smart this winter, and stay as healthy and as germ-free as possible!