As it hits the colder months of the year, in universities across the UK, illnesses are rife. Or what students like to call it: “freshers flu”. The mystery of what freshers flu actually is has gone around for years.
Drinking most days, partying, eating takeaways, can all be an effect on your health during university, especially with the change of environment in the first few weeks. You’re in a new flat or house, bins not taken out, food maybe slightly out of date, but all these things can be the reason for a sudden cough, or that splitting headache.
However, catching fresher’s flu is almost a right of passage for students, if you’ve been out partying you’ve most likely caught it or know someone who has.
Reasons for catching “freshers flu”
- Lack of sleep
- Poor diet
- Excessive drinking
- Socialising with new people
- Stress and anxiety
Although these symptoms do seem heavy there are usually easy solutions to get rid of the mystery illnesses. It is usually a cocktail of illnesses and not the actual flu, due to the combination of thousands of students moving to a new city, so it can be hard to track down the specific cause of the sickness.
According to MyStudentHalls.com Manchester is the city that students would most likely to catch freshers flu. The fact there is over 127,000 undergrad students in Manchester and Salford Universities (as of 2023/24) the chances of being in close proximity with somebody who is ill or has a cold is highly likely.
I spoke to some Salford University fresher students to see how freshers week has affected them and if they have caught the mystery illness.
The most common theme I saw in these students was the ‘freshers cough’, nearly everyone I spoke to said the main symptom they had was this cough, which for some people had lasted up to 4 weeks. Some students even said it affected them attending lectures as they would feel too ill to turn, scared of passing around their illnesses more.
Ella, 18, Salford University fresher said “Within the first two days of being here I lost my voice” but claims, “My whole flat are just having to look after each other, but we’re pushing through and still going out because you’ve got to make the most of it”.
The illnesses going round within halls seem to be inevitable, with some students only going out once and still catching colds and coughs, it is just part of the university experience for most students.
The stress of keeping up going out with your new friends, lack of sleep, and bad food choices are some of the many reasons for students getting ill. But unfortunately none of these factors will change, as students will always be students, going out and being silly and getting drunk, it’s all part of the university experience. Getting ‘freshers flu’ is one of the negatives, however the positives of making new friends in a new city definitely outweighs the negatives.