How sick is too sick?

All times of the year can be downright tricky in their own way, especially with all the different types of seasonal viruses going around. Being sick is not easy for anyone but when you have many responsibilities such as showing up at work or attending some social gathering sit is hard to have to shift your plans due to an illness. However, as hard as it might be, it is imperative to stay home when you are sick in order not to put yourself and others at risk. So, how sick should you be to allow yourself to stay home and not get into the routine of your everyday life?

Catherine Cummins, MD, MSN, a health sciences assistant clinical professor at the University of California-Irvine School of Medicine states: “People are concerned about calling in sick, but if you’re really feeling unwell and especially if you have a fever, you need to stay home. A little bit of common sense goes a long way.” 

Many people don’t realize the complications which can follow when not letting their body heal and ignoring their sickness. Many times, you might get lucky, and your illness will ward off without any complications. However, that is not always the case, and neglecting the feeling of sickness might have you end up in a hospital. Further, many people have a compromised immune system, and an illness which might be very mild for you can turn out to be extremely harmful to them. So, it’s not just your health you are risking, but also the health of others. 

Cummins further explains: “We see a lot of worsening symptoms because people will just not stop and rest. They want to go; they want to be able to do everything that they normally do. 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.”

Additionally, this also leads to the process of weakening your immune system and making you even more susceptible to future illnesses. On top of this, when you are ill your work performance takes a hit too, and the quality decreases.  Therefore, the next time you are having doubts about staying at home due to your illness, it is important to remember that in this case, it is better for you to be safe than sorry.

For more information read: 

https://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/features/too-sick-to-work#2