Student Health At Ole Miss

Photo By: Katie Lovett 

How students fight to maintain a healthy lifestyle at Ole Miss 

By: Katie Lovett 

A recurrent illness, or any illness, is a common factor that can play a major role for any college town. Ole Miss has been battling with its fair share of sicknesses this year, especially with the weather changing so drastically and from students being stressed out with school.

“The increased frequency of illness is related to the close contact among thousands of students, which is the norm on any college campus,” says Dr. Travis W. Yates, D.O at the V.B Harrison Health Center.

Living in a college town, it is hard for most students to steer clear of catching what someone else has. With student attendance being such a priority in most classes, it is hard for sick students to miss out on a class. 

“Our current most common illnesses are upper respiratory infection (URI) related, including the common cold, bronchitis, sinusitis and pharyngitis (sore throat),” says Yates, “and symptoms include cough, nasal congestion, sore throat, fever, headache, and fatigue.” 

Most of these symptoms can be taken care of in about 5-7 days, but other cases can be a little more serious than others. 

Photo By: Katie Lovett

Katie Willyerd, a sophomore at Ole Miss, came down with what she thought was the common cold, but it ended up being worse than she thought. Mono kept her sick in bed for about 21 days. 

“I could not find the solution to my sickness. I had never felt so tired and run down before in my life. I constantly had a fever, I was swollen and I never felt like I was fully rested,” says Willyerd.

Kristin Banks, a sophomore at Ole Miss, had a more serious case of mono. She was sick most of the fall semester and had symptoms similar to Willyerd but adding the pain in her throat, swollen tonsils and abscess in her throat. 

“After I would get over a cold or strep throat, my body could not stay well. Right after I would finish my prescriptive medicine for one sickness, I would get sick again soon after,” says Banks. 

Banks’s case ended a little worse than Willyerd’s did, due to the fact that she had to have her tonsils removed to resolve her everyday sickness’. 

Of course students and parents become concerned with why so many students are getting sick so often and why it can take so long for recovery. 

Photo By: Katie Lovett

“It is commonly suspected that stress plays a role in diminishing the effectiveness of one’s immune system, thereby contributing to increased susceptibility to illness,” says Yates.

Banks says that even though she was sick, she could not let that hold her back from trying to do her best in all of her classes. She was trying to push herself to do her best in all of her classes while struggling to get well. 

Willyerd and Banks both are healthy due to what they have done to prevent themselves from getting sick again. They have both started taking vitamin B12, washing their hands more efficiently, eating a well balanced diet and trying to get at least up to eight hours of sleep every night. 

Dr. Yates has a list of  recommendations of what students should do to prevent themselves from getting sick. 

“I recommend a healthy lifestyle including a nutritious diet, exercise, and adequate sleep, in addition to avoiding unhealthy behaviors such as smoking and alcohol consumption, to keep your immune system and health optimized,” says Yates. 

Katie Willyerd speaks about her illness