In the U.S., we tend to have a mentality that no matter how bad we feel, we must drag ourselves to church, to work, to recreational activities. So when the sniffles, colds, influenza, and stomach flu attack, out the door we go.
Just don’t do it.
You will likely recover faster if you stay home and rest.
Plus, no one wants to be around you when you’re sick. They may be too polite to say so, but coughing on someone who is sitting in front of you at church for an hour will pretty much guarantee they are going to get what you have.
Although much attention lately has been focused on hand washing, many illnesses are also spread through the air through coughing. There is one way to keep from spreading that cold to everyone around — stay home.
It really is rude to go out unnecessarily and share your germs far and wide.
What may be a minor illness to a young, healthy adult can result in pneumonia with a hospital stay or even death to a person with an immune compromised system, someone who is elderly, or an infant, although this is not always true.
The world has always faced strange outbreaks of illness. During World War I in 1918, 50 million people world wide died of the Spanish flu, most of them young and strong. The disease caused a severe cytokine storm, or overreaction of the immune system. Thus those with strong immune systems were hardest hit.
There were 37 million military and civilian WWI casualties, far less than those than died from the pandemic. It is estimated that half of the world’s population came down with it. And it spread fast. It was an H1N1 or bird flu virus, and the first identified case was in Kansas.
By far, the vast majority of contagious illnesses are not that severe.
It does, however, serve as a reminder that those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
As a courtesy, stay home during illness. Those around you will appreciate it, and hopefully they will extend you the same favor.