As the new year begins, the infamous Freshers’ Flu is bound to creep into your lecture theatres and seminar rooms. This is particularly true for first-year students (hence the name), having not attuned to some of the viruses that tour the University’s population.
Some symptoms are: a sore throat, coughing, a headache, and high temperature, and generally feeling sick. Symptoms can typically last three to four days, although, if you get unlucky, they can go for up to two weeks, much like the common cold.
To avoid getting it, the UK Health Security Agency suggests performing basic actions for health, such as washing your hands regularly and keeping a distance from others if feeling unwell. Further precautions they recommend are drinking plenty of water, as this helps prevent bacteria from entering the body, as well as getting plenty of rest to boost the body’s ability to fight infections (although this admittedly is difficult during Welcome Week).
They also recommend wearing masks when in crowded areas, something that became common during the COVID-19 pandemic but is now much rarer. This is supported by data from Google Trends, with searches for face masks returning to close to pre-COVID levels.
If you end up getting sick (we all do at some point), to aid your recovery you can take a variety of medication to help dampen the effect of the symptoms. That said, making sure to maintain a healthy diet and reducing your intake of alcohol (which can be quite difficult when you’ve first arrived at uni) can help to not weaken your immune system.
But crucially, Welcome Week is for socialising, so make sure you have fun and meet people. Maybe just give yourself some time every now and then to rest up, and stock up on throat sweets too!
What are some common symptoms of Freshers’ Flu, and how long do they usually last?
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