School Illnesses

10/14/2019 (Permalink)

School is back in session. Teachers are working on lesson plans. Parents are buying winter coats and hoping their kids don’t get sick this winter. Did you know the classroom can be a breeding ground for organisms that cause illness in students?

Here is a list of the most common back-to-school illnesses to look out for:

• Most commonly spread by direct contact with the hair.
• Hand-Foot-and-Mouth-Disease (HFMD). HFMD is an acute virus that typically affects children younger than 5. Transmission occurs via contact, cough and sneezes as well as contaminated surfaces.
• Scarlett Fever. Usually effects children ages 5 – 12 and comes from strep throat.
• Pink Eye. Bacterial conjunctivitis that is highly contagious. Pink eye is an airborne virus can be spread through sneezing and coughing. Viral conjunctivitis can also accompany common viral upper respiratory infections such as measles, the flu or the common cold.

When a child comes home from school sick, it’s affects the family. Parents miss work and students miss out on learning.

SERVPRO of Pasadena/Gibson Island/Lake Shore is helping schools provide clean, healthy environments for our community’s children. Over the school breaks, we’ve worked with several educational facilities sanitizing classrooms. Our team cleaned and sanitized building materials, surfaces and contents using professional cleaning products as well as EPA registered cleaners and disinfectants.

We would be remiss if we didn’t mention the flu virus when writing about back-to-school. There are many different types of flu and the CDC has scientific-based prediction tools to help prevent and contain the spread of the flu. Last year, SERVPRO of Pasadena/Gibson Island/Lake Shore helped several schools in our community by disinfecting after flu and virus outbreaks.