Health Check: I feel a bit sick, should I stay home or go to work?

[AussieNeil]

Michael Tam, General Practitioner, and Conjoint Senior Lecturer at UNSW Australia, provides some guidance on how not to share bugs, specifically the common cold, gastro and hand, foot and mouth disease:

theconversation.com/health-...

Relevant to us even if we don't go to work. Worryingly our societies are moving towards more casual employment, where casual employees are economically driven to go to work even when they shouldn't do so for the good of both their and their co-worker's and the public's health. That sad situation is well put by the first person to comment on this article:

Jude Nunga

"I go to work regardless of being sick. I practice good hand hygiene as far as possible, but cannot afford to take any days off, particularly if I just have a cold or flu. I am a casual employee, and if I'm not working, I don't get paid. I have no entitlement to sick days, or any leave with pay.

I try not to show any signs of illness at work, so that I am not sent home, or sacked.

So unfortunately for me, as well as anyone I may infect, (either other workers or the public), this is the situation for huge numbers of low paid casual workers. I certainly couldn't afford to see a doctor, because that would mean an extra cost, with no money coming in."

Perhaps we'll just have to develop our wellness antennae , though it might make negotiating lifts difficult, judging by the moth's efforts in the accompanying photo .

Neil