The freezing cold temperatures which lasted nearly two weeks in Denver always cause a disruption in people’s daily lives. People are much less likely to spend time outside, which means germs spread quickly inside homes. To make matters worse, many Stapleton residents have kids who go to the same after school activities which compounds the problem. “I think everyone on our block was sick within a five day period,” said Stapleton resident Jen Myska. “I am sure everyone’s kids have been in everyone’s house in that time, and of course, everyone got sick.”
Local sports programs have noticed kids have been sick as well. “We had less than half our kids at basketball last week,” said Luke Dunlap. “It was pretty crazy.” Dr. Andreasen at University of Colorado Hospitals says there is not much that can be done. “The usual stuff, washing hands, sanitizing things, and so on, but things like this just spread,” said Dr. Andreasen. “In tight knit, homogenous communities like Stapleton, viruses spread very quickly.”
Some Stapleton residents take extra precautions. “We can’t afford to have a sick household,” said resident Laura Young. “So, when we know something is going around, we pull the kids from school, and home school them for several days if we have to.” Young says there are other precautions they take as well. “We wear these special sanitized gloves around the house. Except when we are eating or sleeping, we are all wearing them. It may seem weird to people, but hey, we’re not getting sick at least.”
Luckily, weather has warmed up, and flu bugs and viruses don’t spread as well when people are outdoors. “We are happy our kids are headed back to school,” says Young. “And we won’t make them wear the gloves until another outbreak. You can never be too careful.”
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