VERY important relevant SWINE FLU information. PLEASE listen.

[Rosalind]

With all due respect, I'm guessing you have never been an employer and had the pleasure of paying people you knew were lying to you. Or better yet, caught them in the act.

Sorry, bad guess--I have managed as well as been a union steward over people who I knew were lying, and who were caught in the act of wrongdoing with many witnesses. With photos, even! The power of cell phones these days.

If you have this problem, I can refer you to the advice at the Workplace Doctors Q&A website. Their advice, which I found extremely useful, was to deal with individual policy-abusers individually, in private, as individuals. Employees are grown adults, not kindergartners, no matter how much they may act like it.

I have never had an employee or colleague who abused privileges badly who ALSO got all their assignments done in a timely fashion. Employees who abused sick day policy--and we have had a few, but thankfully only a few--also did not get their assignments done due to repeat absences, missed deadlines, missed meetings, etc. It's legally required that if they are disabled by illness, that we help them file for disability insurance, but if their doctor won't help them with the official paperwork, then they are outta luck. Employees who can't get their assignments done but are not disabled are not difficult to fire: You call them into your office, shut the door, tell them that they have not gotten their assignments done in a timely fashion, direct them to the HR folks about filing for disability due to so many sick days. If they are not disabled (and they will deny being disabled pretty quickly if they don't think they can get a doctor to certify them), tell them that they need to get their assignments done by (deadline) and if it's not done they will be on probation. If/when they take yet another sick day that coincides with the date of the Big Game, and they miss the deadline, you call them back into your office and say, "We talked on (date) about getting your assignments done. They are now overdue, and if (additional work) isn't done by (impossibly near) date to (whatever quality measure), your services will no longer be required. Sign your disciplinary form here." Then, when they miss the deadline or turn in crummy work, you tell them their services are no longer required, please do not use me as a reference, good luck in your future endeavors.

Sheesh, I could tell you stories of nightmare employees who do a lot worse than simply lie about being sick. The contractors are the worst, because you didn't hire them personally, the contract managers did, and ugh... If you know of any way to convince senior executives that although the contractor is cheaper on paper than running it in-house, you'll pay for it in crazy people wrecking your stuff, let me know.​

 

[Sitka]

My wife has finally trained me to wash with hand sanitizer whenever I get home from the store or from work. She carries little bottles of it with her in her purse. It's not really that paranoid to do that --- once you start noticing how many grocery checkers and other people you encounter on a day-to-day basis are sniffling, coughing, or wipe their nose then hand you a receipt, etc.

I work in a hospital (though not with patients) and I have never been thirsty enough to drink out of a water fountain there!

 

[Eggs4Sale]

Quote:
It only takes one child-in-the-cereal-aisle-with-the-stomach-flu-incident to realize how gross everything is.

Especially at the store, ewww.

 

[gypsy2621]

Msybe I am more paranoid than necessary but having a diabetic child, I am terrified she will contract this or any flu.
Feb she contracted the NoroVirus and omg I cant even discribe scared with that one.
It triggered KetoAcidosis, her breath smelled like a bottle n=of nail polish remover.
Rushed her to the ER to find out her blood sugar had sky rocketed and she was close to having a major heart attack at age 12.
They had no clue what was wrong with her. Med Flight from one hospital to a larger hospital.4 days in ICU and 4 days on the regular floor.We very near lost her that week.
Brought her home finally.
My oldest Called and told me what the problem was, The school failed to notify the parents there were 2 cases of the Noro Virus in their school. 24 hours before she got sick she had spent the day with her sister( who went to that school).
I am terrified she will contract this. 3 days before school let out there was 2 cases in her school, the minute I heard it she was pulled from school.
call me paranoid but after the Feb incident I wont send her if I know H1N1 is in the school.
with her being diabetic and not enough testing with this new vaccine , she wont be getting this shot either.

 

[Ol'FashionHen]

My SIL, her cousin, and cousin's SIL all work at the facility that all flu vaccines and meds are packaged, shipped, and sorted through.
Their employers have already informed everyone that if a pandemic strikes they WILL be quaratined to the building with the national guard guarding the facilities and NO one will be allowed in or out till it eases. The workers immediate families will be allowed to come to a specific location to be vaccinated. I hope it does not become pandemic, my son had pnuemonia for the first time this past winter, he has never had any flu nor has my Dh. My Dh does have a low immune system and respitory problems, so does my ds girlfriend in which yes he likes to kiss ALOT

. I had the flu when I was 13, that is the only sickness that I can think of other than a sinus infection or common cold that I can recall having. I have an irrregular heartbeat, but I am realitively a healthy person.
I do believe that if everyone would take precautions on being cleanly and bathing, washing clothes/the home regularly it will
keep it from becoming pandemic and the media will see to it that
they put the fear out there. Definately DO NOT take the second-hand vacccines that will be out. Those people are no different than theives promising to do work for folks after natural disasters and only end up with the money and skipping on the people in need. Some people are selfish and greedy and will get in on any money making opportunity they can.

 

[JennsPeeps]

I'll just say that as an employee at a large university (40,000 students + 30,000 faculty/staff + largest medical center in the region), and as someone who rides the bus for a 70-mile roundtrip commute, I fully intend to get the vaccine as soon as I can. I'd much rather get a vaccine and avoid getting sick than to get sick. I have the sick leave, that's not the issue: being sick is misery. Why be miserable if I can avoid it?

 

[rizq]

Quote:
I don't want to be miserable either. But, personally, I am more scared of vaccines than the flu. Vaccines can cause permanent misery (Guillain-Barre syndrome is one prime example that has been positively linked to vaccines). I know that does not happen to everyone, but I would rather take my chances with the flu. I am not one to get sick very often and after bird flu, SARS, west nile virus, and several others in the not-so-distant past, I have a hard time letting the media scare me about the latest "deadly" virus sweeping the globe.

Everyone needs to do what they feel is right for their situation and their family ... me, I will not be vaccinated.

 

[JennsPeeps]

Chance of getting GBS: 1.7/1,000,000 (in USA) http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/792008-overview

A study reviewing the cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) during the 1992-1993 and 1993-1994 influenza seasons found an adjusted relative risk of 1.7 cases per 1 million influenza vaccinations

Chance of getting H1N1: 1.3 to 26.7/100,000 (in USA, depending upon age group)
For my age group, it's estimated at 6.97/100,000

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/keyfacts.htm

I'll take my chances w/ GBS.​

 

[rizq]

To each his own. Like I said, everyone needs to decide what is right for them.

One thing about the risk of GBS, though, is that is varies with different vaccines. This vaccine has not (and will not have) had time to be thoroughly tested. I am not willing to take the risk on a virtually untested vaccine. GBS WILL ruin your life. There are also other risks to vaccination.

I know someone who died from GBS and I know someone who currently has GBS ... BOTH from the flu shot. One lady died before being diagnosed with GBS, it was diagnosed post mortem. She died about 4 months after getting a flu shot after being in the hospital for something like 2 weeks, I really don't remember. She died from respiratory failure. She was in her 30's

The other lady was diagnosed with GBS also about 3 months after her flu shot. She is in her late 40's and went from working full time to being completely disabled. Five years later she is still completely unable to work and needs assistance with many daily functions. She had to get rid of her standard poodle because she is considered a fall risk and having a large dog was deemed unsafe for her.

My understanding is that it is entirely possible for GBS to show up many months, and maybe even years, later which would make it more difficult to attribute to the vaccine, skewing the stats. I would also imagine that whatever it is in the vaccine that causes GBS could possibly build up in your system making the risk cumulatively higher ... that is just my own assumption, however.

Honestly, I would rather die from the flu than be permanently disabled by GBS, but that is just me.

I understand your difference in perspective given your place of employment and the frequent use of public transport. I work from home and go to town to grocery shop and get pet food once or twice a week and could cut that down to once a month if I went without much milk. I am fanatical about using hand sanitizer after leaving each public place. I rarely eat out. I can appreciate that I am at a much lower risk of exposure than you are, even though my family works outside the home. I am also rarely ill with more than my allergic issues. I do possibly have mild asthma, however, but still am not overly worried.

Everyone needs to research the risks and benefits of vaccination, assess their risk of contracting H1N1, and then decide what makes the most sense for them. I think everyone should do their research though so they know the good and bad of either decision.

edited because I apparently cannot spell assess

 

[beak]

My company has taken this very seriously. They developed a plan that is actually designed for any kind of national emergency. It's very specific about different levels of outbreak and covers how we would be paid in quarantine situations an such. We all have company issued laptops and test monthly for communications so we can work from home. All the supervisors have bio hazard suits in case they need to go out in a quarantine situation. Every workstation has sanitizing lotion and Clorox wipes for phones and such. They also have masks available on request. We're prepared.