Sickness 48 hour rule

[SpringButterfly]

I think my immune system is pretty low at the moment for various reasons.

Yesterday my husband came home from work at 10pm (disabled children carer) and mentioned he felt a little sick, but he was okay after having some toast. He went to work this morning fine.

At 4am I woke up with that feverish feeling like you want to be sick (I did take temperaturebut it was low), weak and scared to leave the bathroom. Eventually went back to bed for fitful sleep with my hair tied up and a sick bowl. Now I feel delicate, have been awake about an hour and drank some water but not wanting to move from the bed.

Should I still be following the 48 hour rule about not having contact with people even though I haven't actually been sick?

For what it's worth I've only had 3 episodes of actual sickness in the last 20 years (my whole teenage and adult life)

It does sound to me like a bug of some sort. Sometimes, when my kids have a sickness bug, I only get mildish symptoms, without actually vomiting. I'd do the 48 rule to be on the safe side.

Where are you likely to be going? And could it be more anxiety than actual sickness? I used to suffer with illness anxiety for a while and I'd worry so much I'd feel very sick and have loose bowels. Unless I actually vomited I would usually carry on as normal. No one else was actually ill. In your shoes I'd maybe think twice if I was dealing with very vulnerable people but otherwise, carry on as normal. With regular hand washing and masks these days I think there's little chance of passing anything on even if you're actually poorly (I think that's unlikely though)

You haven't been sick. The 'rule' is only in place in schools, nurseries and perhaps for people who work in healthcare / with the elderly.

At our workplace the rule is 48 hours from vomiting. I'm glad you recovered!

Should I still be following the 48 hour rule about not having contact with people even though I haven't actually been sick?

Feeling a bit queasy isn't something I would stop going to work for, no.

What is your works policy?

If you're unwell you shouldn't be going anywhere. Let yourself rest if you can.

I thought this was only a school rule tbh

Eh..?

Thanks everyone. Fortunately I don't have to go into work in the next few days anyway but it's good to know I can still pop to the shop with my mask on without feeling guilty.

See. This worries me

I have a condition which means a sickness bug could kill me. Although you might not of been sick. I could catch it and then die. Sounds dramatic. But that’s my life.

People think. Oh yeah I could pass it on. But I need to do so and so. I wasn’t sick. But for us very very few. Where things like the flu or a sickness bug. Or an upset tummy bug. Or whatever. People forget that.

I HAVE to rely on others that they won’t do that. But these threads show more and more that I can’t continue to do that.

I’m a secondary teacher - we have no such rule, for us or for the pupils!

@Nocutenamesleft I'm sorry about your illness, that sounds hard. You do realise that there is no such rule that people have to stay at home for 48 hours after being sick though don't you? Some nurseries / schools / workplaces request it but that's all.

Also op wasn't even sick. Surely you don't expect someone who felt a bit peaky for a couple of hours to stay at home for 2 days.

I’ve literally never isolated myself away for 48 hours because I’ve vomited, sorry but no, schools can demand that policy but back in the real world no one does that. Even my kids school (primary) have said it’s 24 hours for the older years.

The 48h "rule" is just something that's put in place to stop sickness bugs spreading through schools and workplaces.

You haven't been sick, so even if you were working I wouldn't expect you to stay off for 48h after feeling queasy.

If I stayed home every time I felt sick I'd never leave the house.

It's different if you have been sick and you're not certain of the cause (sometimes people are sick because of something that isn't a bug) but feeling sick for a few hours is so common if everyone isolated for 48 hours no one would go to work.

@SpringButterfly

Thanks everyone. Fortunately I don't have to go into work in the next few days anyway but it's good to know I can still pop to the shop with my mask on without feeling guilty.

Why would you have to follow a 'rule' regarding V&D specific to some schools and workplaces, to go to the shop, when you haven't even been sick?

@Nocutenamesleft

There is no guidance stating we should all stay at home after feeling a bit queasy though. I'm sorry you are unwell but I do think you are being extreme to expect anyone to stay at home for nausea.

It isn’t the law and since you haven’t even vomited, I wouldn’t think twice. It isn’t always a bug when you vomit anyway, it can be a case of eating something a bit dodgy. As a hard and fast rule I only think it’s a bug if everyone in the house comes down with it. I remember DS being sick because he’d eaten too much at a birthday party then bounced around. I kept him off school the next day as a precaution but he was only sick once and I knew it was because he’d overeaten then jumped around. I sent him in on the Tuesday but they called me up to ask me to collect him because I hadn’t followed the 48hour rule. I was totally miffed.

I've been throwing up in the office bathroom before then had to go back to my desk to crack on. I'm not saying do that as i was young and felt i had to be there I'd tell them to jog on now but imagine if we all stayed home for 48 hours because we felt unwell but wasn't even sick. Yabu.