{"id":520480,"date":"2026-01-16T13:50:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T13:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/520480\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T13:50:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T13:50:11","slug":"how-seasonal-illnesses-are-impacting-san-antonio-area-classrooms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/520480\/","title":{"rendered":"How seasonal illnesses are impacting San Antonio-area classrooms"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Antonio <\/strong> \u2013 A San Antonio-area doctor tells us that an average healthy kid can get sick up to six times during the winter months, because viruses tend to thrive in colder weather. <\/p>\n

Pediatrician Oziel Ortiz with Baptist Health System says there\u2019s an influx of hospitalizations of kids who have underlying conditions and end up catching the flu or a cold. He says the number of sick children is much higher; they don\u2019t make it to urgent care or a hospital for testing. <\/p>\n

\u201cViruses do a little bit better during the winter in the context of the environment, the air is a little bit drier, which allows somebody\u2019s droplets to hang out a little bit more in the air. That\u2019s probably issue number one. Issue number two, in the content of community, we have more gatherings. And so we get a little closer to people. Our immune system doesn\u2019t work as well through the winter. So that\u2019s why we see a little bit more of these viruses through the winter,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

The illnesses also affect school attendance. Anecdotally, some school district leaders say they see more classroom absences in January and February. <\/p>\n

Three area school districts shared some of their data with KSAT, showing the average attendance in January and February \u2014 those numbers show a slight drop in attendance.<\/p>\n

A breakdown of the attendance data can be viewed below.<\/p>\n

San Antonio Independent School District<\/b><\/p>\n

2023 <\/p>\n