How to spot and (try to) avoid freshers’ flu

Freshers’ flu. The two words all students don’t want to hear. No matter how many bugs or vaccinations you’ve had in your life, you’re almost guaranteed to get it in some form or another within the first few weeks of the semester.

It’s caused by exposure to germs. Different people carry different bacteria and, typically, the people they interact with a lot become immune to those bacteria. At university, no one is immune to it, as they are all meeting for the first time.

In the first of a two-part series on freshers’ flu, University of Bristol student Georgina explains the symptoms of the infamous illness and how to avoid it.