BUFFALO, N.Y. — Thursday marks another day of back-to-school for thousands of kids. It's an exciting time to be back in the classroom. But with all those high fives and hugs come germs.

For anyone who has a child in their life, and that child is heading back to school, brace yourselves. Health professionals say you’ve got about a week before the boogers return. Officials at WellNow Urgent Care are offering some quick health tips.

As you might imagine, strep, pink eye, COVID, RSV and the flu will be the main reasons why kids are coming in. Amber Vilella is a physician assistant who says right now they’re seeing an uptick in COVID.

Everyone in the home needs to be washing their hands for 20 seconds with warm water and soap. Sing those ABCs. Eating healthy and getting the right amount of sleep will also help keep the family healthy. And if your child does come down with something, please remember the 24-hour rule.

“If you noticed your kid woke up [sick] one morning, it's probably just going to get worse throughout the day," Villella said. "They're just going to get sent home from school. So until they're feeling better, fever-free, 24 hours, symptoms improving, we recommend keeping them home.”

It's important to keep them hydrated and eating healthy food.

In terms of cleanup, Vilella says to disinfect the house. For strep throat, she says wait three to four days to change the toothbrush once a course of antibiotics has been started. Villella says for pink eye, wait 24 hours before changing sheets after getting eye drops.

You can change pillowcases nightly. For colds, Villella says clean, clean, clean.

Flu season starts in November; as of now, the CDC hasn't released an outlook. We do know this year’s vaccine will be trivalent instead of quadrivalent. Those are available now.