Is it possible to postpone illness?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific concepts
  
  

Stressed High School Teacher Trying To Control Class<br>E3M74J Stressed High School Teacher Trying To Control Class
If I can just hang on until half-term ... Photograph: Alamy Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

Is there any medical explanation for the concept of not having time to be ill? Every teacher I know will attest to the fact that they do not get ill during term time, but the minute the holidays arrive they fall sick. How could the body make a virus or bacteria wait until the holidays?

James O’Neill, Meudon, France

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