This week, students have been coming down with a mysterious illness that is raging through the halls of DaVinci. Many students, including myself, have been experiencing body aches, coughing, fevers, chills, exhaustion, and plain misery. “It starts out a tickle in your throat,” Senior Kaitlyn Jones says, “but it grows into a hacking cough and sore throat that makes it impossible to talk.” If you experience these symptoms, I would suggest that you take off time from enjoying your teachers’ lovely voices. Germs are quite the opposite of what DaVinci is for.

Returning students should remember the attack of Mononucleosis from the beginning of last year. It seems that the students of DaVinci are very close and share every thing, including unwanted illnesses. Nolan Williams, a senior, expressed his feelings when he was asked what he thought about the way we seem to spread our unfortunate poor health issues. “Inter-human contact should be forcefully eliminated.” I agree with what Nolan is saying. If you suspect someone is ill, please try not to share drinks with them or come into close contact. This is not something you want, trust me, and with the recent scare of H1N1, or Swine Flu, we do not want the school to go into quarantine.

In addition to keeping a distance, you should also try washing your hands more. Drinking more liquids, eating fruit such as apples and orange, and getting enough rest should help. Please encourage your teachers to put large bottles of hand sanitizer in their rooms. Hand sanitizer does not replace washing your hands, though. If you do start to feel the symptoms listed above, gargling with warm salt water, cough suppressants, using Tylenol instead of aspirin if your fever is over 100.5 to prevent Reye’s syndrome, a sometimes fatal condition that occurs in children with viral illnesses, decongestants, a healthy diet, and plenty of rest are always good ideas. If you think you may have a more serious case, please consult a health professional such as a doctor. If you would like more information, visit cdc.gov.