A Public Service Announcement
Please wash your hands after using the bathroom -- especially a public bathroom.
I've been suffering from norovirus for the last two days, and it's awful. It started with a headache on Sunday and quickly progressed to nausea Sunday afternoon and vomiting Sunday night. Since then, I've had horrible stomach cramps.
I've been thinking about how I got it. A co-worker of mine had something similar last week. Now, how could I have gotten this virus, which is in fecal matter and vomit but not in saliva?
When I go to the bathroom at work, I sometimes hear people get out of a stall and go right out the door without washing their hands. They probably think they're very clever because they use their feet to flush the toilet, but they are actually spreading disease to all the rest of us. Think about it. I am sick, and I use a stall. I get virus on my hands from the toilet paper. I use my hands to open the door of the stall, go to the sink and wash my hands. The non-hand-washing person goes into the stall after me, gets virus on her hands by touching the door, and proceeds to leave the bathroom, depositing the virus on everything she touches, may it be a door knob, an elevator button, or her desk.
If someone had bothered to wash his or her hands after using the bathroom, I probably would not be suffering now, nor would all those people who will get the disease from me.
P.S. Before you ask why a person sick with norovirus would be using a workplace bathroom, consider that the virus lingers in stool for at least three days after a person starts feeling well. My employer, like most employers these days, provides only five paid sick days per year. After that, you have to use your vacation days for illness. It is understood that you should be in the office working, not at home recovering. Employers should definitely be pressured to be more generous with sick leave, but in the meantime, hand washing is all we've got.
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