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Comment by moultano | Hacker News Reader

http://www.virology.ws/2009/06/02/pathogenesis-of-influenza-...

To keep your coworkers from getting the flu, go home as soon as you think you might be coming down with something. The amount of virus you are shedding into your environment is nicely exponential in how bad you are feeling, with one exception: The day before you start feeling really bad, you are shedding nearly as much virus as when you are feeling worst.

If you have to choose, it's better to go home early and come back before you are feeling 100%, than it is to stay at work until you are certain you are sick and stay home longer. It's always better to shift your sick days earlier in the illness.

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I wish it was culturally acceptable to wear a hospital mask in public in the USA. I do it anyway and look like a weaboo or something, but still.

I wish it were culturally acceptable to let send people home or for people to stay home when they are sick in the US. I hate seeing people come to work sick because they don't want to be perceived as "weak" or a "slacker". It also seems especially prevalent in people who think that they are high achievers.

Since SARS in Toronto, it's become more and more prevalent, especially among Asians. I was in high school at the time, and we used to make fun of people wearing these masks, and how crazy they looked.

Now in my older and wiser years, I realize that they were probably the smart ones!

In my experience people from Asia bring the culture with them, which might explain why it seems ethnically Asian people are wearing the masks more - they might just literally be Chinese or Japanese people, among whom it's totally normal.

"go home as soon as you think you might be coming down with something"

I wish. I just can't do that. To quote The Faculty "I'm saving my sick days for when I feel better" When your only vacation for the year hinges on working while sick, you'll choose to struggle through it.

Also worth noting:

Please do NOT come back to work just because taking medication made you feel better. Too many people load up on daytime meds and show up to work exposing their co-workers needlessly to their illness. Don't be that guy, seriously.

The regime I recommend to everyone since it has worked for me for years (whenever I do get sick enough to 'take stuff')...

Standard personal care applies. Hot showers are nice for getting clean and steaming out the lungs. Plenty of water, simple food to that's easy to digest.

Rest in bed or bundled up and watching TV or something if not sleepy.

To promote better breathing and deal with drippy ickies...

Go to your pharmacy, ask them how you get the REAL cold medicine that you've heard you need to show ID for.

https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1618:_Cold_Medici...

There are two drugs worth considering:

Night time (an hour or so before you want to pass out from exhaustion):

What used to be maximum strength over the counter Sudafed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pseudoephedrine

Sudafed has stimulant properties, they're an unwanted side effect but if you're REALLY sick you should be able to lay in bed for a bit breathing well and slip off to sleep; I suggest it before bed ONLY, since it tells the body to stop making mucus which allows for a good night's sleep without filling the lungs back up.

Day Time (take with your first meal (literal break-fast(ing))):

Under many brand names (often Mucinex) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaifenesin promotes coughing up the stuff that is clinging to the lungs. Be ready to deposit the results somewhere sanitary.

Can't begin to tell you how many people I've met that think they're longer contagious because they have symptoms now.

This is all true, but sadly not going to work is only an option for the more privileged in the USA.

A waiter paid minimum wage + tips struggling to pay for cost of living/child care/debt/medical expenses/etc is likely to go to work anyway, putting the health of potentially hundreds of people at risk.

EDIT: 1 hour later, currently sitting at -1 - if you disagree so much that you feel the need to downvote, please explain why - I am genuinely curious!

Very true - this argument helped pass mandatory sick leave entitlements in Seattle recently (I think it just came into effect).

Unfortunately no mandatory sick leave will affect the majority of workers who are contingent, temporary, or otherwise even more at risk of losing pay and firing if they(we) go home sick. I had H3N2 last week and I came to work because I was told I risked being fired if I didn’t. Everyone in the office hated it but I didn’t want to lose my job.

Sometimes even the privileged won't have this option. I get 6 sick days a year, accumulating 4 hours a month. I have a young child in school, so I'm not sure I've ever managed to hit 3 days...

Pretty sure I had the flu last week. Still showed up because I don't want to blow any of my precious 2 weeks vacation time. Got it from my coworkers anyway, who are probably thinking the same thing.

Would take a pretty big shift in US work culture to change any of this.

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