To be living in fear of illness this time of year?

[Babyonion]

I keep reading updates on Facebook groups, WhatsApp groups I’m in and so on. Plus the media in general talking about how bad this time of year is for bugs and viruses.
My DH, MIL and FIL are all ill with a cough and nasty cold at the moment that has knocked them for 6 for days/weeks. So far I’ve been fortunate enough not to catch it.
I also keep reading about norovirus and flu that are particularly rife.
I had norovirus a couple of years ago (twice if I recall!) and I was really unwell with it. I felt absolutely shocking.
I have a bit of a phobia of vomiting as it is, so that’s just compounding the anxiety I feel.
I am also dressing illness over Christmas as we have so much planned and are travelling down to see my family too.
I’ll be gutted if everything is ruined.
I’m washing my hands as much a possible but can’t avoid crowded places because of where I work and of course DS (who is 6) being at school and not exactly hygienic.

Everyone does seem to be sick. I was sure i’d come down with Covid last year as someone at work who I spent a few hrs with for a meal had it end of last week. Then I travelled 4hrs each way on 3 trains but not sick yet. Probably catch it right before christmas

meh. People get ill. It's unpleasant but it gets better. Do you want to feel less afraid of illness, OP?

This. I have noticed a huge increase in this sort of pre christmas illness anxiety amongst my friends (myself included) and I’m sure it’s a hangover from those tense tenterhook weeks in the lead up to Covid Christmases. Can’t remember such focus and angst about the usual and expected seasonal bugs before it.

Why waste energy worrying about something you can't control (unless you live like a hermit).
Having been a teacher for 30+ years I'm exposed to so many bugs and germs on a daily that I'be developed a pretty robust immune system but also know that I'll catch stuff from time to time. But I'm not going to stress about it 🤷‍♀️

I started gargling with mouthwash during Covid before I go out and as soon as I get back, and since then I rarely get a sore throat, cough cold or the flu.
I've probably jinxed myself now.

I'm really interested to know the statistics, whether we all all catching these bugs more frequently in recent years, so getting ill more often than in past years pre-start-of-covid. I find it strange how normalized it's been made, particularly by schools. I wish there was a large gap between end-of-school and Christmas so that there's a chance to recover.

The norovirus stats the government releases are considerably higher this year than the 5 year average (and the 5 year average has had Covid years removed because obviously the levels were lower then due to lockdown so are not comparable).

This.

I feel exactly the same, like I could have written this post myself. I wear a mask on my commute and wash my hands when I arrive at my destination in the hope that I don't catch anything from people I'm commuting with. I make my kids all wash their hands the minute we walk in the house but obviously that won't protect us from what's going round at school. I'm worried about getting ill myself but more worried that one of my kids will get it and a childhood Christmas memory will be ruined for them. It's not just Christmas, though - I'm like this all winter long.

I agree with this, it's probably a hangover, like a lot of behaviours these days. I'm one of the minority who is at substantial risk all of the time - covid, flu, whatever - and so even during the main wave of the pandemic I was a bit 🙄about people worrying about missing Christmas as if that was all they had to worry about.