First, one of my friends got sick.
Then another one did.
Then I got sick.
And suddenly, it wasn’t just my friend group anymore. People I knew, people I barely knew, and people sitting across the classroom from me were coughing, congested, losing their voices, or telling somebody they had just gotten over being sick.
Like… what is going on?
At some point, I genuinely started wondering: Why is everybody at Norfolk State sick?
Now obviously, every student on campus did not suddenly catch the same mysterious illness. But the way sickness seemed to be making its rounds during the first few weeks of the semester wasn’t completely in my head either.
There’s actually science behind why college campuses can become the perfect place for respiratory illnesses to spread.
Think about how fast our entire environment changes when the semester starts.
One week, everybody is scattered across different cities and states, living their own lives. The next? Thousands of us are back at Norfolk State at the same time.
Now we’re sharing dorms, classrooms, elevators, dining spaces, bathrooms, parties, campus events—everything.
And we are around each other constantly.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), respiratory viruses can spread through the air, especially in crowded indoor spaces. Improving ventilation and bringing in cleaner outdoor air can help lower the amount of infectious particles in the air.
Basically, college gives germs plenty of opportunities to meet new people too.
And researchers have actually studied this on college campuses. In one study, researchers followed 590 students living in university housing for 10 weeks, tracking respiratory illnesses and the students’ social interactions. They identified possible transmission events connected to places like dorm rooms, dorm common areas and smaller classes. Sound familiar?
Then there’s the way we start living once school gets going.
Classes. Meetings. Work. Campus events. Parties. Homework. Late-night studying. Early-morning alarms.
And somehow, sleep is the first thing we decide we don’t need anymore.
Be serious.
That matters because sleep and the immune system are connected. The CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health notes that sleep loss can affect different parts of immune function and has been associated with an increased risk of infection.
No, staying up until 3 a.m. finishing an assignment does not automatically mean you’re waking up with a cold.
But staying up until 3 a.m., barely getting enough sleep, waking up for class and then spending your entire day around hundreds of other people?
Yeah… we are not exactly helping ourselves.
And when you really think about how we live on campus, the whole thing starts making a little too much sense.
We all come back at the same time and suddenly we’re around everybody. We’re sitting beside each other in class, hanging out in each other’s dorms, going to meetings, eating together, going to parties, and let it rain outside? Now everybody is piled up in somebody’s room.
Then one person gets sick.
They still go to class.
They see their friends.
They go back to their dorm.
Those friends see their friends, roommates and classmates.
And just like that, the cough has made its campus rounds.
So no, there isn’t technically one official “college plague,” and everybody walking around with similar symptoms doesn’t necessarily have the exact same illness. Coughing, congestion, sore throats, fatigue and losing your voice can happen with several different respiratory illnesses.
But the pattern makes sense.
And suddenly everybody is having the exact same conversation:
“Wait… you’re sick too?”
The CDC recommends doing the basic things we’ve all heard before: wash your hands, cover your coughs and sneezes, improve indoor airflow when possible and stay away from others when you’re sick.
Yes, that last part includes class.
I know.Â
So no, there probably wasn’t some mysterious NSU illness coming for all of us.
The beginning of the semester just creates a really good environment for germs to spread.
Apparently, they were excited to come back to campus too.
Now please, cover your mouths when you cough because we do not want to repeat after NYTHC (Not Your Typical Homecoming).
References
Aiello, A. E., et al. (2021). Social contacts and transmission of influenza-like illness in a university population. Epidemiology & Infection. PubMed
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Taking steps for cleaner air for respiratory virus prevention. CDC
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. (n.d.). Sleep and the immune system.