Cold Running Rampant

A sickness is spreading like wildfire through Broomfield High School.

Cold Running Rampant

Lila Emery, Staff Writer

Getting sick and getting behind in your school work isn’t enjoyable, especially at the start of the year. What are you doing to keep yourself well?

Left and right, it seems like students are sniffling, coughing, sneezing, or missing. The culprit, most likely the common cold.

Mrs. Simmons, the Attendance secretary at Broomfield High School, reasoned, about 65% of reported absences in the past week have been sickness related. She said,“It does seem to happen this time of year because kids all come back at once, and then it just kind of perpetuates.”

 

Above: What the common cold looks like under a microscope.

The CDC states, “the common cold is caused by Rhinoviruses.” These viruses come in a wide variety (even Covid-19 is a form of a rhinovirus). Not to worry though — unless a positive Covid-19 test comes back — symptoms should reside “in a week or 10 days” according to the Mayo Clinic.

Mrs. Peacock, the school’s health para stated, “Everybody’s coming in with a headache, a sore throat; a runny nose is really common. Some people are congested. Those are the most common. There’s been a few higher grade cases with 100 to 101 degree fevers.”

While this type of cold seems pretty common for this time of year, Mrs. Peacock also said, “One thing I noticed different this year that I never saw last year was a fever over 100.”

The cases Mrs. Peacock had on her hands seemed pretty harsh, but after talking to some students

Susan Peacock, the school’s heath para, can be reached in her office across the hall from the treasurer’s window in the main office.

affected, it appears the cases were somewhat mild. The common answer of severity being around 2-3 out of 10. Kellen Mitchell, ’24, described it: “I started out with a sore throat, and then I had a stuffy nose and then a cough kind of started a little bit, but I’m feeling better now.”

The rise in cases is most likely a combination of the lifted mask mandate as well as shared close quarters. Hallways, classrooms, and school events are excellent places for the viruses to run rampant.

Our Health Para’s advice: “I hate to say it, but as I’ve started to do now, wear your masks because we didn’t get as many colds.” She continued, “Wash your hands a lot, take your vitamin C, and drink lots of fluid. Just stay hydrated to keep everything moving. Oh, and if you notice someone around you that has a cold, just try and stay away from them.”