With school set to start in just a few weeks, parents are running around helping their children prepare for the new school year.

What they are not always ready for are the common childhood illnesses that come with kids returning to the classroom.

"Usually around this time year, the problem is that a lot of times, no matter what you do, you're going to have a certain number of kids that are going to get sick. You can be the most fastidious parent in the world, and yet these kids will still get sick at times," said Dr. Brian Rumbolt, a family doctor in Winnipeg.

Dr. Rumbolt says late summer and early fall is when they start to deal with a rise in viruses ranging from the common cold to hand, foot and mouth disease.

"You get one kid that gets a runny nose in a daycare, in a classroom or playground, and it spreads quite quickly," said Dr. Rumbolt.

The best way to prevent this from happening is to encourage handwashing.

"Plain old soap and water will help quite a bit with that, and the other big one is that when you have one child sick, just keep them away from other kids to prevent the spread," explained Dr. Rumbolt.

The most common illnesses that parents will run into in the school year include the common cold, hand, foot and mouth disease, and the flu.

"These viruses, there is really not much we can do. You get exposed to these viruses, you develop antibodies from them and that carries you through life. That is just part of the process," said Dr. Rumbolt.

In the end, parents are encouraged to use common sense.

"You know your child, you know what energy level your child has," explained Dr. Rumbolt. " If you have a child who is running high fevers and they are getting irritable, those children may be quite sick and have something else going on, and they need to get into their health care provider as soon as possible."