I had a head cold yearly as a child, especially when I was in school during flu season and surrounded by sick children who don’t cover their faces or noses when they cough or sneeze.
My mother would send me to school with hand sanitizer, but I’m not sure how often I actually used it. I hated getting sick too, even if it meant I could miss school from time to time. And since I had asthma, getting sick would take me off my feet faster and longer than it would for most kids my age. The worst thing was having my friends come down the street to play street hockey with me without realizing that I was sick inside and couldn’t come out to play. Since we always lived in a cold, northern climate, the autumn and winter seasons are exceptionally dry. Dry is great for preventing mold and microbial growth indoors, but it can lead to extreme physical discomfort. Some people report abnormally dry skin, dry eyes, sinus pain, etc. I’ll even get a headache as a secondary reaction from my initial symptoms. My mom always ran a humidifier for me whenever I was home sick to help with the symptoms. But I’ve learned since then that you should be careful using these devices in climates where ambient humidity is over 60% outside. Adding more moisture to criticall humid air will lead to obvious problems with mold and mildew. If it’s the winter and humidity is below 40%, then using a humidifier is a good way to have more comfortable indoor air than you would have otherwise.