by Kaylee Carrero
The “Ick” – getting sick – is something no one enjoys getting. Oftentimes, despite our attempts at preventing sickness, we get it anyway. Why? I’m sure many highschoolers happened to be wondering the same thing. At the very beginning of the 2023 school year many students had received various cases such as strep throat, stomach flu, common cold, and more, as mentioned by some students when asked. Recently, many of these “Icks” have been coming back.
Not all of these sick kids have been able to stay home, so they went to school sick, effectively spreading it. However, the question still stands, why did they get sick in the first place? And why didn’t I? The fact of the matter is that many things can play into someone getting sick whether they be genetics, weather, temperature changes, or simply just bad timing. Anyone can get sick, but it’s harder to get infected when you act to prevent it.
Genetics and immune health can play quite the role in the prevention or obtention of an “Ick.” In the healthline.com article, “Why Do I Keep Getting Sick?” they highlight some ways you can get sick and ways to prevent it. Under the section labeled “Genetics” they mention how a low white blood cell count increases your risk of infection and disease while a high white blood cell count will protect you against them. Both can result from genetics. In other areas of the article, they mention how hygiene, diet, and sleep deprivation may play a part as well.
Additionally, weather can affect us in getting sick. When asked the question, “Can humidity increase someone’s risk to getting sick?” Microsoft Bing responded with a resounding yes. Websites like healthpartners.com and health.com are all saying that humidity can increase your risk to heat related sicknesses. Not only that, but according to an article in timesofindia.indiatimes.com titled “Alert! Sudden change from hot to cold can be harmful to your health”, going from hot to cold too quickly can also be harmful to your health. Even going from a very cold room to the very hot outside can be harmful and vice versa. According to the text, results from varying severity of these temperature changes can include runny nose, dry skin, asthma attacks, muscular pains or aches, sinusitis, flu, cold, sore throat, and severe pains.
Overall people can get sick for a multitude of reasons like hygiene, immune health, temperature changes, and weather. The risk of getting sick with these are significantly downgraded when we moderate our thermostats, keep healthy hygiene like washing our hands, eating healthy, and most importantly do what we can to not spread it if we do contract a sickness.
Bibliography:
Heather Hobbs. “Why do I keep getting sick?” May 8, 2023. Healthline.com
Pratishtha Tiwari. “Alert! Sudden change from hot to cold can be harmful to your health.” May 16, 2019. timesofindia.indiatimes.com