What is Sick Santa Syndrome? Doctor warned of hazards of dressing as St. Nick in the 80s

Forget “naughty” and “nice” — Santa should probably be checking twice for “nauseous” and “feverish.”Unfortunately, the many men donning Santa suits every December don’t have the power to know where viruses might be lurking, inspiring one doctor — and sometimes Santa Claus — to publish his warnings about “Sick Santa Syndrome” in a 1986 medical journal.Dr.Mark Dembert, an epidemiologist from the Navy Environmental Health Center in Norfolk, Virginia, had a merry side gig in the ’80s: When he wasn’t studying diseases, he dressed up as St.

Nick to entertain kids at children’s hospitals.As it turned out, being Santa did teach him a bit about how disease spreads, and he wrote about his finding in the Journal of the American Medical Association in December 1986.“I know of no epidemiologic work published on the morbidity associated with being Santa Claus,” he said.“However, my background as an infectious disease epidemiologist and my several years of experience as a seasonal but well-traveled Santa for kids and adults alike prompt me to describe a new syndrome.”Sick Santa Syndrome, he said, has some combination of the following symptoms: low-grade fever, muscle aches and pains, headache, nasal congestion, mild sinusitis, painful swallowing, cough, increased thirst, decreased appetite, and enlarged lymph nodes.He said the malady can crop up in patients of any sex or age but typically occurs between December and mid-January.

“Risk factors for this syndrome … include ho, ho, ho-ing; hugging; listening; reassuring and winking done face to face,” he continued.“There is little one can do to prevent the syndrome.

Influenza shots are warranted for this high-risk population.Vitamins may be worthwhile.”Though tongue-in-cheek, the details of Dr.

Dembert’s article likely struck a chord with mall Santas at the time — and his “disease” earned attention.Speaking to UPI that year, he had to pause the interview to cough due to...