MEMPHIS, Tenn. — As students finally return to school, they are not only getting ready to see their friends again: Viruses are getting ready to spread.
“It’s just a perfect situation for viruses to spread,” said Dr. Sandy Arnold, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital chief of pediatric diseases.
According to the doctor, the close contact students experience often lead them to start getting sick once they get back into the classroom.
It may begin slowly at the start of the school year, but according to past data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cases of COVID-19, RSV and the flu will pick up over the coming months. According to Arnold, Tennessee and several states in the southeast often act as a bellwether, where the virus trends here often dictate how extreme it will be for the rest of the country.
“COVID has settled into a pattern of a summer surge and a winter surge," Arnold said. "So it doesn’t look like we’ll have one COVID season like we do a flu season.”
RSV cases are expected to start spiking in October, while the flu is expected to do the same in November.
For the time being, Arnold recommends families stay up to date on their shots, including the upcoming COVID-19 vaccine.
“It is supposed to come out in September and provide good protection for that winter surge that we are likely to see," Arnold said.
At the same time, doctors recommend families take time over the next few weeks to look over children's respiratory etiquette like:
- Coughing into their arm
- Washing their hands
- Using hand sanitizer
- Staying away from people who are coughing and sneezing
- Avoid touching your eyes and nose too frequently
“These are very hard things to teach children, but it’s the kind of thing that you just want to go over,” Arnold said.
If you have any questions, the CDC has developed THIS ONLINE TOOL to help answer any concerns and locate your nearest pharmacy to get a vaccine.