Every year at least once or twice while at university it is inevitable that people will get sick. There are many precautions to try and avoid the usual go around. Some of these things include doing normal healthy habits including not sharing items with others like drinks, washing hands frequently, and trying to eat healthily. Some more pro tips are when that time of year rolls around drink an Emergen-C each morning or take your preferred type of multivitamin. Sometimes it can be difficult to get all the nutrients you need to protect yourself best from sickness when your main source of food comes from the dining hall. This is why I like to add something else to my intake to make sure my body is getting everything it needs for my immune system.
It is funny because when I first started considering what I was going to write about this week I started to have symptoms and found out I have strep. I feel lucky that I am a veteran and have been through the wringer a few times and know how to handle this circumstance at school at this point. One of the tough things about being at colleges is that unfortunately many professors are not forgiving at all when it comes to attendance, and some even expect students to show if they are sick unless they are truly deathly bedridden. In these circumstances, it is difficult to determine the best action to take.
What I would say is the most important and first step is immediately email all your professors and warn them before you are asking for anything else. This will make it feel less last minute if you need to ask for an extension on an assignment or if you accidentally sleep through the class and anything the like. It is also possible that they may encourage you without even asking you to not attend class and will just in general be more forgiving. After that always consider what is best for you, do not attend something if you truly do not feel well enough to do so, hydrate, and try to relax. At the end of the day what is most important is that you do what you can recover and in the long run if handled properly you should be able to get through it without any detriment to your academics.