When is it OK to call in sick? More often than you think: Symptoms at the START of illness can wreak havoc because you're at your most contagious
- Dr Charles Gerba says we are most contagious in early stages of illness
- Ill people should always stay at home, such is speed germs spread
- Others warn coming to work in early stages prolongs and worsens illness
- Previous research found that when one person comes to work sick, more than half of the communal surfaces are infected with the virus by lunchtime
They are the bane of many office worker - colleagues who come in coughing and spluttering when they should really be in bed.
Now, a leading microbiologist has spoken out against the 'stiff upper lip brigade' - instructing them to stay at home - even when illness is in the early stages.
Dr Charles Gerba, a leading microbiologist, has warned that coming into work even at the start of feeling ill can wreak havoc around the office.
Staff at Cardiff council have been sacked for taking too many sick days, as the average rose to 10 a year
If you are even starting to feel symptoms, this is when you're most likely to be contagious, he says.
And other experts are warning that going to work when you have symptoms can actually make you even more ill.
'We see a lot of worsening symptoms because people will just not stop and rest,' said Catherine Cummins, a health sciences assistant clinical professor at the University of California-Irvine School of Medicine.
She told WedMD: 'They want to go; they want to be able to do everything they normally do.
HOW DO YOU STAY HEALTHY IN AN OFFICE FULL OF SICK PEOPLE?
If you are healthy but others around you at work are sick, there are some measures you can take to protect yourself.
Dr Gerba suggests frequent hand washing, for 15 to 20 seconds each time, and then drying them with a clean paper towel.
This alone can reduce the spread of germs by nearly 80 per cent.
If there is no water around, use instant hand sanitiser if available.
Disinfectant wipes to clean surfaces have also been shown to reduce viruses by up to 62 per cent.
The Arizona scientists found that using tissues to wipe the face, hand sanitiser and washing hands before lunch and after a big meeting resulted in an 80 per cent reduction across the board, for all three viruses, in their risk of infection.
'What they don't understand is that they're pushing themselves to the point where they're actually a lot sicker at the end of two to four days than they would have been if they had just taken that first day off and let their body fight the infection.'
And while taking cold and flu remedies can help ease symptoms, they can affect work quality by causing drowsiness.
'This
is when you just get a fever and are starting to feel under the
weather. And if you go to work in this state, any medication you take
will interfere in how well you do your job,' added Cummins.
Earlier this year, scientists at the University of Arizona found it really is better to stay at home, such is the speed that germs
spread around an office.
They discovered when even one person comes to work sick, more than half
of the commonly touched surfaces in the office will become infected
with the virus by lunchtime.
When someone comes to work sick, about
half of the commonly touched surfaces in the office will become infected
with the virus by lunchtime.
Some of the likeliest germ hotpots include telephones, desktops, tabletops, doorknobs, photocopier and lift buttons and the office fridge.
However the study also revealed that simple interventions, such as hand washing and the use of hand sanitiser or wipes, can drastically reduce employees' risk of infection.
Conducted in an office, the study included about 80 participants, some of whom received droplets on their hands at the start of a normal work day.
While
most of those droplets were plain water, one person unknowingly
received a droplet containing artificial viruses mimicking the cold, the
flu and a stomach bug.
Other experts are warning that going to work when you have symptoms can actually make you even more ill - and it's better to take a day off at the start of an illness
Employees were instructed to go about their day as usual. After about four hours, researchers sampled commonly touched surfaces in the office, as well as employees' hands, and found that more than 50 per cent of surfaces and employees were infected with at least one of the viruses.
'We were actually quite surprised by how effectively everything spread,' said Kelly Reynolds, UA associate professor of public health at the university. 'I didn't expect to find it as much as I did.'
And that was in an office environment where people work primarily in isolated spaces, she added.
Touching surfaces - rather than coughing and sneezing over people - is how most germs in an office are spread, say the researchers. These viruses can last anywhere from a few hours to up to a month.
'Some of the likeliest germ hotpots include telephones, desktops, tabletops, doorknobs, photocopier and lift buttons and the office fridge'
University of Arizona
Researchers
swabbed surfaces and hands again at the end of the work day. By then,
the cold and flu viruses, known for their short survival time, had
dissipated, but the stomach virus had continued to spread, infecting up
to 70 per cent of surfaces tested.
'We really felt that the hand
was quicker than the sneeze in the spread of disease,' said Charles
Gerba, co-principal investigator on the study.
Most people think
it's coughing and sneezing that spreads germs, but the number of
objects you touch is incredible, especially in this push-button
generation. We push more buttons than any other generation in history.
The key message is to stay at home when you're sick.'
The same
study then was repeated with a 'Healthy Workplace Intervention' in
place. Employees were provided free tissues, disinfecting wipes and a
bottle of hand sanitizer and were instructed to wash their hands before
eating lunch and after meeting with a large number of people.
With those simple interventions in place, risk of infection dropped below 10 per cent.
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