Emet ethichal question

[donna1216]

I know everyone here is majorly up in arms (rightfully so) about people showing up to work/school while v'ing. Well, my friend Kim has strep throat, she teaches 1st grade, strep throat is airborne, unlike most v'ing viruses, and very contagious, especially in children. WEll, she went to school yesterday for half a day until her dr.s appt. then went to Gymboree (kids clothes, and my absolute favorite, if any of you knows anyone who sells Gymboree, let me know, I am a little obsessed) and shopped when she arrived in the part of the city where her dr.s office was a little earsly. Do you think non emets just view all illnesses as equal?? A sore throat illness being passed around is the same as a v'ing bug?? And hence they come to work/school??

[skon]

I don't think strep is passed around like a cold or stomach virus.....the bacteria is always there in everyone, it just gets out of hand sometimes. So....I dunno.


I know that people without this phobia don't give any thought to spreading any illness at work; they think it makes them better workers to come to work ill.

[sweetfreak]

People that don't have a phobia of being sick honestly don't think there is anything wrong with exposing other people to their illness. They don't think anything of it because they don't have the fear like we do. Think of it this way. What if someone you knew had a fear you never heard of...something that you would think is ridiculous...like...I don't know...a fear of paper. If you put paper near them and they freaked out, you would probably think that was very odd and they were just being dumb, especially if you didn't have any phobias of your own. That is the way most people feel about sicknesses. They are just an everyday part of life, nothing to stress over. I know as emets we have a hard time understanding that...but OH...how I wish I could be just like everybody else sometimes. But...other times...I am sorta happy I have this phobia. It makes me sensitive to other people's feelings, and that is a good thing. [img]smileys/smilies_04.gif[/img]

[juliet]

I hate it when people come to my school with any kind of illness. I'm a singer, so upper respiratory illnesses in particular drive me crazy. Yesterday my school held a fifteen-minute fire drill in the freezing cold (it was the second one this week, and for whatever reason they just couldn't hold this one a day earlier when the temperature was 60 degrees) and now I have somebody's cough in addition to theseterrifying abdominal cramps, and my region's solo and ensemble contest is a week from today...


Don't you just hate it when someone at work/school hangs around you all day before casually mentioningthat they spent all of last night v*ing?

[kentuckygalrk]

Ya know what's odd about this Donna. I have to be honest and tell you that I have gone to work before with strep throat. I absolutely HATE it when people come to work sick with a stomach virus or vomiting because in my mind there is NO way I'd ever do that and I just think that's something that should be kept in the privacy of one's home and not brought out into public (I know part of that's my emet talking) but come on... it's just nasty.


On the other hand... I truly don't have a problem with people coming to work with a cold or cough or even strep throat because quite frankly with all of these, the germs are out there in the air all the time and as long as they cough into their arm and away from me I have no problem with it.


Why I understandthem coming to workand not someone with atummy bug is, cold viruses seem to last FOREVER... for me it's sometimes a couple of weeks at a timeand there's just NO way at all that I could miss that much work. I might call in during the worst part for a day or two... but then I'd just have to go back to work and sufferthrough it.


Also... bare in mind, that with strep throat you are considered no longer contagiouswithin 24 hours of taking the first dose of medicine... so really, though people may still feel crappy, they aren't going to get you sick. Then, another difference between the stomach viruses and colds... with colds, the flu, and things like strep you are most contagious 2-3 days before you even start showing symptomsand you don't even know you're spreading it to others... so really... what's the point.


Hope that made some since... lol... I'm rambling again. But all in all... I completely understand why people come to work with colds or even strep (though I think anyone working in food should stay home if they are sick with anything!). It's the stomach viruses I don't understand...


~Rachel

[charzysbebe]

I agree, that strep is not airborne. Me and my kids have had it umteen times, and the doc always said, "strep is not easy to catch because it is bacteria, not a virus". He always warned us just not to drink off of the infected person. (even then, it is rare to get)


I must agree though...I used to hate when people would come into work sick. Why couldn't they stay their butts home?? ICK! [img]smileys/smilies_07.gif[/img]


Charlotte

[ChippedAway]

I get mad about any type of illness. People almost always come to work sick at my work. We only have so many sick days and its a small branch and we work with the public so stuff gets passed round and around. People think banks are so sanitary and clean, ha! Money is the dirtiest/germiest thing in the whole world.Edited by: ChippedAway

[uidactinide]

I also hate it when people come to work with the stomach bug...



However, I'm also guilty of coming into work sick. Most of my bosses
have been real a**holes, and have expected their employees to come into
work regardless of our condition. I once had a boss who screamed at one
of my co-workers for 20 minutes on the phone one Monday because she had
called to tell him she wouldn't be in; she was calling from her
hospital bed, where she'd been for 48 hours prior to the phone call. It
would have been different if I had been in a situation where I had a
degree and could have easily gotten another job, but when you're 17 and
have a son to feed, you come into work no matter what.



On the other hand, when I did come into work sick, I made sure to let
everyone know I was sick as soon as I got there, so they could avoid me
and my germs. I washed my hands constantly, didn't use other peoples'
phones or pens or anything (or if I had to use someone's phone I
disinfected it immediately afterward), and stayed far away from the
employee break room. I've had a few co-workers thank me for being so
considerate; but hey, when you have a phobia like ours you tend to take
other people's feelings about illnesses into consideration.

[sweetfreak]

Hmmm...never had strep throat...but I have gone to work with a cold or the flu. Just not with a stomach bug, cos I refuse to vomit or have diarrhea outside of the house.

[harmonygirl72]

I think I have strep throat now!!! And, it's Sunday and I can't go to the doctor!! Luckily, I have tomorrow off, so if I do have it, I know I will only be contagious until I am on the meds for 24 hours. So, maybe Tuesday I will just take the morning off? Who knows? But, think of me, cause I feel absolutely AWFUL!!


Mary

[2jo2]

I take work off anytime I don't feel well, but I can. My job isn't weird about it at all. I'll take the first couple days of a cold off, I'll for sure not work if I have a fever, and strep throat, you're contagious until you take the medication, so it's only considerate to not go in, and to stay home. THere would be a lot less sickness going around if people would just stay home when they're ill instead of spreading it around.

[Babydoll]

I find that people who come to work with a stomach virus usually end up in the bathroom for at least half their shift anyways, so whats the point? with most colds, you can work and not be in the bathroom so Its more productive. I think people who have strep throat shouldn't come in untill they have started their antibiotics.. I mean I have ahd strep throat, and it feels like the worst flu u have ever had multiplied by 10 so i dont even know how they have the energy to be there.


Witha stomach virus, uve got one person infected, they come in, infect 10 other people, who are all running back and forth to the bathroom all day. they should stay home!!!

[juliet]

Doesn't strep throat cause vomiting? It did for my sister, anyway.

[kentuckygalrk]

I've had strep throat quite a few times and never vomited with it, though I've come close from coughing and such. But some people do. I think in that casethe vomiting is morea side effect ofeither the fever or the mucus in your throat and notfrom the illness itself.


I also think that often times when parents are trying to be productive by telling there children to "covertheir mouth withtheir hand" (I mean that's something I hear parents say everyday)they aren't really accomplishing anything but that child spreading their nasty germs onto whatever they touch. I was always told to cough into my arm or shirt and not my hand.


As for having a compromised immune system... I'm sorry you have to deal with that but there's just no way that everytime someone gets a cold or flu they can stay at home... it's just not possible. Plus, as I said before... cold germs are just in the air anyway. There are precautions that you can take as someone with little immunityand Ireally dotake as many precautions as I can when I'm sick not to spread it around.


I guess basically we'd all like to be able to stay home in bed while we're sick... but again... I'd get fired if I did and I really can't afford to lose my job over a cold. ( I guess that's just the world for ya.


~Rachel

[harmonygirl72]

Juliet...now you have totally scared me!! I really think I have strep and now I am afraid I will get sick to my stomach! I have had it before and it never happened, but you never know! Though in reading about it on the internet, it said only in children does it cause stomach upset, not adults. Was your sister a child? I hope so. Feeling gross and now scared too..............


Mary

[charzysbebe]

Juliet...now you have totally scared me!! I really think I have strep and now I am afraid I will get sick to my stomach! I have had it before and it never happened, but you never know! Though in reading about it on the internet, it said only in children does it cause stomach upset, not adults. Was your sister a child? I hope so. Feeling gross and now scared too..............


Mary

Awww, don't worry. First of all, do you know for sure that it is strep that you have? And also, I have never v'd with it, and I have had it many times. When my kids had it, they did v, only because they had a really high fever, and they always v with a high fever. Don't be afraid! You will be fine! [img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img] Charlotte

[SimplyMe]

Hey, Mary, I hope you feel better soon. I agree w/ Charlotte! Plus you've had it before and not gotten sick AND when you had it before you were younger and more likely to get sick from it. Your'e an adult though and can spit out phlem (sp?) and can monitor your temp and take Tylenol as needed. Also my cousin when she was a kid used to get every kind of throat infection imaginable and NEVER got sick from any of them and she is one who gets sick from pretty much anything so if she didn't you won't. Hope this make syou feel better! I had company this weekend so I wasn't online but I don't now so please call me or text me and I will come online (so you dont' have to use your voice and hurt your throat) and talk to you anytime you need. i'm off from school today too!





LOL! I just posted and realised I didn't respond to the actual main post! I'm losing my mind I tell ya. I'm on boths ides of this debate. On the one hand I dont' want anyone whos' sick w/ a stomach thing or anything "serious" to come in but then again who says what's "serious"a cold can be serious for some people. In a perfect world people would be allowed to have the time off to get to a point where they are no longer contagious but unfortunately many bosses have many rules as far as sick days and sick pay so I suppose most peopel go because they can't financially afford not to. But personally I'd like people to take a couple days no matter what they have, not only for me but even tho most people see sickness as "normal" nobody lieks feeling like crap from even a cold so it'd be nice to contain it to one or two people and let eveyone else be germ free. Ah but if only we were int hat perfect world lol.Edited by: SimplyMe

[holly18]

i hate it too when people spread thier germs, especially people that make no effort to cover thier mouth when they cough or ever wash thier hands. when i finish my degree im going to end up working in a laboratory doing medical research or something along those lines, i cant wait because it will be the perfect working envrionment for me, STERILE!! [img]smileys/smilies_04.gif[/img]


The otherday in biology we were preparing agar plates to culture bacteria on. We had a person in the class that rarely washes his hands place his hand into the agar jelly. It will be interesting to see how many different bacteriums grow! The teacher also bought in some mouldy bread that we could take samples from (using sterile rods to transfer it) but there were some people in the class using thier hands, then they didnt even wash them at the end of the lesson! i have also seen people eat in the laboratory directly off the desk (When no teacher was about) i hate to think how many germs must be on the desk from all the disection, chemicals and agar plates that takes place on them!

[donna1216]

I used to get strep throat as a child quite a bit (of that I am grateful now, I used to get strep and I NEVER caught a stomach bug while I was growing up--never) and I DID v'it once, when I was 6, but I also had it as an adult and have never v'ed.

[harmonygirl72]

Weird! I was sure I posted on here! Maybe I accidentally put it somewhere else! Anyway, I do have strep, I went to the doctor this morning and he turned out to be a guy I went to high school with! But, anyway, I still feel gross, but less scared about getting sick to my stomach. I never had strep as a kid, but as an adult, I have had it about 5 times! Yuck! Thanks everyone!


Mary