It is not uncommon to get sick in the winter time. Many students have been under the weather this winter. Melcher-Dallas School District called off school for two days in an attempt to fight the various viruses going around. 

Extra cleaning and sanitizing was done at the school to lower the rates of illnesses. Knoxville took an early holiday break in part due to the weather, but the rate of illness within the school was climbing as well.

Judi Van Hulzen, a nurse at Marion County Public Health tells KNIA/KRLS News that we are seeing more of RSV and other illnesses for a reason, “We’re seeing a lot more of that this year just because we haven’t been exposed. Just like influenza, we haven’t been exposed to it as much in the past couple of years because we’ve been doing what we’re supposed to do. We’ve been wearing those masks and washing our hands.”

Many of the illnesses going around include RSV, Flu, COVID and the common cold. Van Hulzen strongly recommends getting the flu shot. She adds, there is a myth going around that she quickly disputes, you can not get the flu, from the flu shot.