A Student’s Guide to The Flu Season

Keeping yourself germ-free is always the best way to avoid the flu.

The winter season is flu season in Canada. With the days getting darker and colder, you may start to see more open seats in lecture halls (that aren’t from drop-outs). Your classes and lectures may see a sharp increase in coughing background noises, and students carrying their own Kleenex box.

So what can you do to try to avoid the flu or common colds this season?

You may have seen some students pop COLD-FX pills at the early onset of any symptoms. Some people swear by them, but the medical jury is still deliberating on exactly how affective the pills are. And priced around the $30.00 range (for 60 capsules), they might not suite your student budget.

There are other low-cost things you can do to avoid getting sick. You can make friends with a bottle of Purell or another inexpensive Alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Bring it with you everywhere you go. You may feel like a germaphobe, but keeping yourself germ-free is always the best way to avoid the flu, while avoiding giving it to others.

You can also visit www.fightflu.ca, a website brought to you by the Government of Canada in collaboration with the provincial and territorial governments. You can use it to look for cold/flu programs and resources in your area, or download their Flu Prevention Checklist.

The site also contains information about flu shots, including where to get them and who should get them.