BRYAN, Texas — Thanksgiving break is over and Christmas break is not too far away. More people may be out and about shopping and traveling, and tagging along with them are germs!
According to one Bryan ISD school nurse, Jamie Beseda, the most basic thing you can do to keep away some germs is wash your hands.
"Hands are the easiest ways to transmit germs onto other surfaces. It would be great if everybody could wash their hands, but not everybody does. Anytime that you have access to a sink, soap, and water, you should always wash your hands. There are other products like hand sanitizer that can be substituted if there is not the ability for washing, but the CDC does recommend that if you have the capability, you should be washing your hands each and every time you can," said Beseda.
Germs are an innate part of life and cannot be avoided, but they seem to hold a heavier presence during winter.
"Germs are prevalent all times of year, kids always have germs. What we see during the winter months is that kids are in more closed quarters to being inside more, it's cold, more tight-knit groups more often, and so they are definitely passing those germs a little quicker during the cold and flu season. So it's not that those germs aren't there all year, it's just that we're seeing higher numbers when we're all smushed together," said Beseda.
On top of washing hands, you may be bombarded with a whole new group of germs just by being out in public.
"A lot of the germs we're seeing now are respiratory based, so those are going to come from being shared in a droplet fashion, coughing, sneezing into the open air is going to share those germs," said Beseda.
She adds that it is important to teach kids early on how to wash their hands correctly, so that this might protect you and the surrounding people this busy season.
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