Working with winter weather
Winter is coming.
Jami Garvin, a junior studying communicative disorders, spent her childhood in Arizona. She came up to Utah State and said her first Cache Valley winter came as quite the shock.
“It is way too cold up here,” she said.
Garvin said in Arizona, winter doesn’t start until November and it is usually over by February.
“Its like 90 degrees right now in Arizona, and its like 26 degrees here,” she said. “I’m just not ready.”
Garvin said to always carry a jacket.
“Sometimes I’ll leave in the middle of the day and don’t think I’ll need a jacket, but by the time I get out of the Library, it’s freezing – like I can’t feel my ears,” she said. “So you think you can survive, when actually you can’t.”
Nikolay Hacking, an undeclared freshman, grew up in Russia.
“Winter is nothing here,” he said. “In Russia, you’re going to get really, really cold.”
“This is warm to me,” he said. “Cache Valley is closer to the equator and it is at a higher elevation. Russia is closer to the North Pole. It is more up north.”
Hacking said in Russia, people wear fur clothing to keep warm. His advice is to go inside and get warm and to always wear a scarf.
Snow and ice aren’t the only perils winter brings to Utah State. Flu season also peaks during the winter.
“This year we have had early snow and so the weather has turned colder, so I would expect an earlier peak,” said James Davis, a physician at the Student Health and Wellness Center.
“Typically for us it peaks late November, early December for the community, but for the school community, we usually see it when everyone comes back in January,” he said.
Davis said washing hands well is one of the best things you can do to prevent the spread of the flu virus.
“The flu is spread by respiratory droplets, and while we do breathe in respiratory droplets,” he said.
Davis said it’s much more common for people to spread germs by coughing and touching various objects.
“Somebody will come along and pick up those viral particles without knowing it,” he said.
Davis said good hand hygiee, good respiratory hygiene, exercise and protection against dehydration, dry throat and sore throat will also help prevent the flu virus.
Davis recommended getting the flu vaccination. He said he has always gotten the flu vaccination and he cannot remember ever having the flu virus.
“I’ve seen people who are miserable who get the flu virus itself who don’t have the vaccine, and frankly, I’d rather have the vaccine,” he said.
Davis said to avoiding exposure to large crowds who may be ill.
“If you are going through an airport, I don’t see anything wrong with wearing a mask to filter out respiratory problems,” he said.
He said if a student gets the flu, however, there is really no way to speed up the recovery process.
“The flu virus has to go through its course of replication, turning on your immune system, then fighting it,” Davis said. “There really aren’t magical methods.”
“There is not a lot to do about the regular flu symptoms,” said Davis. “Chicken soup doesn’t really work, but it tastes good.”
He said vitamin C, zinc and other kinds of antiviral medications aren’t very effective in terms of preventing.
Davis said to help with general achiness or fever, Tylenol and ibuprofen seem to help. He said to stay hydrated, eat and get plenty of rest.
Davis said he recommends a visit to the SHWC if students are having shortness of breath, chest pain, a bad cough, trouble sleeping or trouble eating because of a sore throat.
“We would want to see you for symptoms that
are extraordinary or things that aren’t getting better,” said Davis.
The SHWC offers reusable, disposable thermometers for fever detection at no cost for students.
– carli@jdsco.com