Danica Spears
Published: October 29, 2008
The common sounds of runny noses, sneezes, and congested coughs are in full swing among many college students during the late fall and early winter seasons.
Simple hygiene, like washing your hands after using the bathroom, may be the cure for the majority of common colds that are unknowingly passed around by students.
Nichole Weaver, a Pensacola Junior College accounting student, washes her hands after using the bathroom “because it’s a healthy habit.”
“If we wash our hands a lot of diseases could be prevented,” said Angela White, a PJC custodian.
“The majority of people I’ve observed while cleaning up the bathroom, they go in the stall, come out and don’t wash their hands. They check their makeup, touch their hair, and that’s why you got so many people with mono,” White said.
Mononucleosis, known as “mono” by most students, is a virus that makes you feel weak and tired for a long period of time. Rest and self-care is the best cure for the virus.
To prevent getting sick, students should wash their hands on a regular basis, avoid close contact with those who are sick, drink plenty of water, exercise on a regular basis, and consider getting a flu vaccine.
“Sometimes you can’t prevent getting sick,” said PJC sophomore Lindsey Box.
Box does try to prevent catching colds by taking a daily vitamin and staying away from other sick people.
“I think stress plays a big part on all of you guys,” said PJC Health Clinic Coordinator Judy Harrington. Since 1992 Harrington has aided students, faculty and staff at PJC.
Harrington emphasizes eating right, sleeping well, good personal hygiene and washing your hands as major factors that play a role in keeping your immune system healthy.
“If we can keep our immune system at the best we can by eating right, sleeping well and getting some exercise, and even if we are exposed some people will never get sick because they’re just healthy enough,” Harrington said.
A clean learning environment also plays a part in students’ health. There are more germs and students than custodians, yet the custodians, “mop daily, clean bathrooms, clean the windows, vacuum, sweep the entrance way, clean the glass, empty trash every day, and keep the bathrooms stocked every day,” White said.
White assured that the most commonly touched items, like door knobs, keyboards and stair rails, are sanitized as well.
“Just because you can’t see (germs) doesn’t mean they’re not there,” she said.
In Shireen Merrill’s lab for elements of nutrition at PJC, students learn about germ control and food safety with a product called Glo Germ, an oily substance designed to represent germs on hands.
When using the product, Merrill sprays Glo Germ on the students’ hands, and then students look at their hands underneath ultraviolet light to see the glowing germs. Next, students wash their hands with warm water and soap and then view them again underneath the ultraviolet light to see if they still have any germs left.
“One of the things that it does is that it gets into the cracks in the skin and anybody with dry hands sees how much the germs are able to infiltrate,” said Merrill. “It gets in and around jewelry and so students usually are very amazed by it.”
Using Glo Germ in lab helps students see the effectiveness and importance of hand washing.
