As students return to classrooms across Turkey, health experts emphasise the importance of immunisations and basic hygiene measures to prevent the rapid spread of seasonal and respiratory infections in crowded settings.
As schools reopen in September, children and teenagers are once again sharing classrooms, school transport, canteens and dormitories, bringing a familiar seasonal concern back into focus: infections spread more easily when large numbers of people spend time together indoors. Dr Senay Pir Zengi said the start of term is a period when respiratory illnesses, stomach bugs and skin infections can move quickly through schools and boarding settings.
Zengi highlighted influenza, COVID-19, RSV, adenovirus and rhinovirus among the respiratory infections to watch, alongside whooping cough, measles, rubella, mumps and chickenpox. She also pointed to group A streptococcal infections, pneumococcal disease and meningococcal disease, and said tuberculosis should not be ignored in crowded dormitory accommodation. In shared dining areas, she warned, hepatitis A, rotavirus and norovirus can spread through contaminated food or surfaces, while lice, scabies, impetigo, fungal infections, conjunctivitis and hand, foot and mouth disease can pass through close contact. The CDC similarly says schools reduce transmission when they combine cleaner air, handwashing, respiratory etiquette and vaccination.
Basic hygiene remains the first line of defence. Zengi advised washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, using alcohol-based hand gel when sinks are unavailable, covering coughs and sneezes with a tissue or the crook of the elbow, and making sure classrooms and dormitory rooms are aired regularly. She also said children with fever should stay away from school until they have been fever-free for at least 24 hours without fever-reducing medicine, and stressed that towels, combs, water bottles and similar personal items should not be shared. The CDC and the American Academy of Paediatrics both say good sleep, proper nutrition and staying up to date with immunisations also help limit spread.
Even so, Zengi said vaccination offers the specific protection that hygiene measures cannot replace. She noted that Turkey’s expanded immunisation programme covers protection against tuberculosis, hepatitis B and A, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, Hib, pneumococcal disease, measles, rubella, mumps and chickenpox, and urged families not to let delayed doses slip further as children get older. She said missed vaccinations can usually be brought up to date with a catch-up schedule, making school enrolment a practical time to review a child’s record with a family doctor.
She particularly recommended checking the 4-to-6-year booster doses, the teenage Td booster, and any missing MMR doses, given recent measles outbreaks in Turkey and nearby regions. Zengi said hepatitis A vaccination should be completed in two doses and can still be started in older children, teenagers and adults who were never vaccinated, while seasonal flu vaccine can be given from six months of age and needs to be repeated every year. She also said meningococcal and HPV vaccines, although not part of Turkey’s routine schedule, should be considered on an individual basis, especially for young people living in crowded dormitories. According to her, families should rely on paediatricians and family health centres rather than social media when they have doubts about vaccines.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
