A list of some of the things that contribute to illness: Close contact with large numbers of people. Poor nutrition. Lack of sleep. Questionable hygiene. As finals approach, more and more students at Northwestern say they are feeling run down, such as Weinberg freshman Catherine Arney.
"I started to get sick about a month ago and I have been kind of groggy and tired ever since," she said.
Arney's health problems peaked one day when she sprinted out of her history class 10 minutes early to vomit in the bathroom. Although she has experienced flu-like symptoms for some time now, she said academic pressure deterred her from taking time off to recover.
"It's Northwestern. I feel like people go to class no matter what," Arney said. "If they are dying, they go to class and infect other people. It's a nasty cycle."
According to Evanston family physician Mark Drexler, the college lifestyle makes students like Arney a prime target for influenza, especially if they live in a dorm. NU Health Services was unavailable for comment.
"In a dorm you have a lot of people living in a relatively close environment," Drexler said. "Hygiene may or may not be the greatest so it is easy to spread illness from one person to another or from one area of the dorm to the other."
Basic hand washing along with six to eight hours of sleep a night and proper nutrition are important habits to ward off sickness, Drexler said.
But it is not always easy for students to adhere to these suggestions.
"I do so much work here and I stay up so late," Arney said. "I never have time to recover. Even the weekends are too busy. There is no four-day chunk where I can rest and recuperate."
If students fall ill, they should act quickly to address their health, Drexler said.
"If you get sick with high fevers, headaches and chills, there are medicines," he said. "(The medicine) won't protect you, but it will decrease the severity of influenza if you get started in the first 24 to 48 hours."
NU's short quarters may increase pressure on students to attend every class despite how badly they may feel, but one professor finds the pressure students feel unwarranted.
"When students are sick and they let me know about it and don't just disappear I certainly let them make up the work," Prof. Jeanne Ravid said. "I think it's the mother in me that seems to think it's better to stay home and get the sickness over with than to come out and get worse and give it to everyone else."
Arney said she has felt better and plans to take more health precautions in the future.
"I am trying to get more sleep and to eat healthier, but I don't think there is a lot you can do before spring," she said. "And then it is allergy season so everyone is sick all over (again)."
m-walton@northwestern.edu
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