Am I at risk?
Right. This is fairly complicated so I'm trying to spell it out clearly to prevent confusion.
Today I went to a large family meal. Earlier this morning (Sunday) I heard my mum talking to my auntie saying that my cousin (i.e. daughter of auntie) had vomited (once I think, but unsure) the previous day (Saturday), following a bad feverish night (Friday-Saturday). She had eaten a Chinese the previous night (Friday). By today (Sunday) the fever was completely gone but apparently she didn't want to go to the meal or eat anything as she still had an upset stomach. But, my auntie had forced her to go as the meal was for an important occasion. I heard my mum say that she (cousin) might have picked up something up from kids at a school that she (cousin) had started work experience at recently.
Now, the location of the meal required driving to get to it. For some reason my auntie and cousin couldn't go in their own car, so they came to our house (they live nearby) to get a lift with me and my mum. They arrived at the house. I was told to sit in the back next to my cousin which I really didn't want to do as for all I knew/know her illness, though 'improved' may be/have been highly contagious and have/has a long incubation period. I reluctantly got into the car despite knowing that I might be condemning myself to infection. Throughout the the 10 minute journey there (and back afterwards) I basically sat squished against the door of the car as much as possible to try and stay as far away from my cousin as possible! I leaned forward so as to breathe in the fresh air blowing in through the window of the seat in front of me, as if it would prevent any infected air from being inhaled.
While at the meal my auntie said that she had had an upset stomach over the past two days also, but not as bad as my cousin and hadn't thrown up at all. This rang alarm bells as it would suggest that maybe this was/is an infectious illness. However she said that this was probably due to the Chinese meal. When it came to it they both ate as much as the rest of the guests and seemed no worse off for it.
Even though the evidence seems to point towards the illness being due to the Chinese meal I can't help but feel scared. Though if it were an infectious illness, stomach bugs are transmitted by the microbe dissipating in the air during vomiting, are they not, rather than just breathing close to one another? Nobody was sick at the meal and it looks like it was due to the Chinese anyway - so there's a very good chance I'm safe, right? I know norovirus (normally around winter, I know) takes up to a whole 3 days before symptoms appear, and that some illnesses are still contagious even after the person is 'better' so...someone tell me it's all going to be ok please?don't want to spend the next 3 days worrying.
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