Students Get Mono

One of the problems with going away to college or university for the first time is that you are suddenly exposed to a new environment, a lot of new people, and a wide variety of new germs and viruses.

Register With A Doctor

Before leaving for college check your family's Health Plan to see if you are covered while you are away at college, and don't forget to see what sort of Health Insurance your college offers its students. When you get to college make sure that you find a doctor or register with your Student Health Center before you get sick. The last thing you want to do if you don't feel well is to try and find a doctor to treat you, or even worse, find out that you aren't covered by insurance.

Prime Candidate

If you haven't already had mono you are now a prime candidate for the disease. They don't call it the ‘kissing disease' for no reason. To try to avoid infection don't share cups, toothbrushes and the like and keep your immune system in good condition. Eat properly, take a vitamin supplement and make sure you get enough sleep: prevention is better than a cure.

If You Get Mono

As mono can really knock you flat if you get sick, you probably won't feel well enough to attend classes. Make sure you get lots of rest, plenty of fluids, and stay away from aspirin as it can cause complications. Other pain relievers such as ibuprofen are normally fine. As far as your professors are concerned, let them know that you are sick so they can take it into account. If you feel up to doing some work get one of your classmates to bring you the assignments, so that you can at least keep up with the reading. You don't want to get too far behind or risk losing any credits, as that will really make you feel sick! Most colleges have a policy regarding absences so make sure you let the admin department know you are ill; you don't want to be unfairly penalized because you are ill.

When You Feel Better

Even when you feel well enough to go back to class, don't rush headlong back into student life; you don't want to suffer a relapse. It's especially important that you don't participate in contact, collision or high risk sports for at least 3-4 weeks after you feel better as there is the risk of rupturing your spleen. If you are a serious athlete you should make sure to get your doctor's ok and even possibly an x-ray or ultrasound before resuming your sport. Mono can also affect the liver, so you should avoid alcohol during your illness and for a couple of months afterwards.

Even if you only have mild symptoms of mono you should still take it easy while you are ill and also after you start to feel better as sometimes it can take months to fully recover if you do too much too soon.