Marissa Higdon, Reporter, Albuquerque Business First
As they start getting ready to go back to school, students and their parents are hitting clothing stores, supply stores and the doctor's office. Back to school is a busy time for doctors and hospitals.
Right now, pediatricians are booking up for students needing school vaccinations and sports physicals, and once school gets going, doctors stay busy throughout the fall with upper respiratory viral infections, better known as the common cold, says Dr. Felipe Zanghellini, a pediatrician at Lovelace.
"In the first month of school, there's not a lot of change," Zanghellini said. "But starting in September we start to see a lot of upper respiratory infections."
He says the uptick can be attributed to cooler weather as well as increased contact with other children. At school, kids are around each other all of the time in enclosed indoor spaces, helping viral infections spread quickly.
Zanghellini says November through March is the busiest time of year, when students come in with those same cold viruses as well as flu strains.
Right now, Zanghellini says he's having a lot of patients trying to squeeze in physicals before the school year starts.
"We often run out of appointments this time of year," he said. "I really advise that parents get their student's physicals done on a timely basis."
Lovelace is hosting a back-to-school health fair this Saturday. Visitors can schedule a physical at the event and receive vaccinations on site.
UpToDate reports that the common cold accounts for about 22 million missed days of school nationwide and 20 million missed days of work. The CDC Foundation found that worker illness and injury costs U.S. employers $225.8 billion annually.
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Albuquerque Business First