Alex Waldron, center, with her two sons Benjamin, 9, and Thomas, 11, in Maynard. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
The season of sickness starts every September in Alexandria Waldron’s home, right after her three boys ages 9, 11 and 14 go back to school.
“They haven’t been around a lot of other kids,” Waldron says, “and always, two weeks later, almost exactly to the day, our first kid would get sick. Then it would spread through the family. “
It might be strep throat, a stomach bug, a cold, fever or an earache. Once winter hits, Waldron, who lives in Stowe, Mass., would take someone to the doctor once a week. But since a year ago March?