Wish peoples approach to infectous illnesses was more like the Japanese

Totally agree! Schools and universities tend to have these epidemics of everybody coming in sick, and then passing it around. When I go to class I try to sit away from people who are obviously ill (once I moved 3 times because people around me were coughing/sneezing/sniffling too much), but you can't always avoid them. I've somehow managed to avoid getting sick this year, but it should be the responsibility of the sick person to sit away from everyone else or just stay home if it's that bad. It seriously annoys me, since I've known of people with type 1 ending up in hospital due to getting sick. Get well soon!!!!

I send healthy children to school and get infected ones back. Humf! They miss teaching days which often cannot be gained back. 10yr old doing stats this yr. He needs to be on top form. Dietician doesn't want him on any strict 'faddy' diet.

Use to get this all the time at work. Customers spreading their germs all over you. Yet since I gave up work to look after my husband I haven't had any signs of a sniffle and I intend on keeping it that way .

I totally agree, why don't people use hankies and had gel.

Once I was a rep and walked a lot in horrible weather but never caught a cold.Once I was back working in an office I got all sorts. People who still go to work despite being ill are a menace especially if you are a carer and don't want to catch anything unnecessarily.

Boo1979 said:

In Japan and some other asian countries, if youve got an infection and go out in public you wear a face mask to reduce the possibility of infecting someone else
Last week I was travelling on a train between the midlands and London. I started off perfectly healthy but a woman in the row of seats next to mine was coughing and sneezingfor the whole 2 hour journey, no covering her mouth etc, no chance to move from my booked seat as it was half term week and the train was pretty crowded
By the time I went to bed, I’d started sneezing and it had gone onto my throat and chest by the next morning and its still firmly there a week later - my sugars are most unimpressed and have been hovering between 9&10 despite v few carbs and normal dose of my diabetes meds
Still , looking on the bright side, Ive been sleeping a good 10hours a day, my fitbit reckons my heartrate has increased to put me into “fatburning zone” most of the day - Ive also fancied little food other than cheese,pitachio nuts and sugar free squash - as a result Ive lost 3.7kg since last week

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Yes, that Midlands line is so crowded much of the time. Have you thought of wearing a mask yourself? I have an anti pollution/anti chemical one for cyclists in case of road pollution, i have thought of using this, i have bought it, though i am not a cyclist - but i have hesitated, due to embarrassment, really. Might this be an option for you? Re your post, I agree with you - and wish we were more like the Japanese, but i cant see us changing. Things have moved further away from us being like this since i was young. Then, the phrase 'coughs and sneezes spread diseases' was used, and keeping away from others, and washing hands regularly was encouraged. ( I remember hand and nail inspections at school)

I don't think it is a brilliant idea, unless you have a problem that means your immune system is severely compromised and you need to protect yourself .If your body doesn't encounter viruses, infections and bacteria at normal/low levels then it may not be able to cope when it does encounter them.
I suggest (not going to search for evidence) that people who work with children (that is personal experience. snotty noses, and unwashed hands, always some bug going around) and in hospitals tend to be less likely to be struck down with common viruses. If you never encounter them, then you won't develop resistance

Face masks don't work in preventing the transmission of disease. Well, they sort of do until they get damp from breathing through them all the time, about 20 minutes.
Theatre staff wear masks to prevent contamination from the patient.

Don't touch your face or eat/drink without washing your hands, don't go out in public if you can help it if you are contagious and take Vit D.

Japanese people don't like to use tissues/blow noses in public so the masks are to disguise unchecked runny noses and constant snuffling!

Chocomin said:

Japanese people don't like to use tissues/blow noses in public so the masks are to disguise unchecked runny noses and constant snuffling!

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Yuk.

Colds are a buisance but rather than just trying to prevent infection and making money for whoever makes Dettol (marketing strategy to get us paranoid about germs) why not think about bolstering your immune system so that it deals with the inevitable bugs better. Do not get the blame game when we are surely taljing about the common cold not ebola.

Boo1979 said:

In Japan and some other asian countries, if youve got an infection and go out in public you wear a face mask to reduce the possibility of infecting someone else
Last week I was travelling on a train between the midlands and London. I started off perfectly healthy but a woman in the row of seats next to mine was coughing and sneezingfor the whole 2 hour journey, no covering her mouth etc, no chance to move from my booked seat as it was half term week and the train was pretty crowded
By the time I went to bed, I’d started sneezing and it had gone onto my throat and chest by the next morning and its still firmly there a week later - my sugars are most unimpressed and have been hovering between 9&10 despite v few carbs and normal dose of my diabetes meds
Still , looking on the bright side, Ive been sleeping a good 10hours a day, my fitbit reckons my heartrate has increased to put me into “fatburning zone” most of the day - Ive also fancied little food other than cheese,pitachio nuts and sugar free squash - as a result Ive lost 3.7kg since last week

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I agree still.
I'd get my little one to wear one. Back to school today and he'll be ill in a few days time.

I too wish people were more considerate when coughing and sneezing in public, and when leaving their infections on anything they touch. As every T1 knows, getting ill isn't just a matter of powering up our immune systems to deal with it but also the added physical wretchedness of high blood sugars and calculating sick-day insulin doses to bring them down and avoid hypos. I always feel that the same illness hits us twice as hard as it does non-diabetics.
It's possible to cough or sneeze without spreading germs (use a hanky when coughing or hold in the explosion when sneezing). My mother taught me how. One of the teachers at the primary school she went to taught her: the teacher had survived the flu epidemic of 2018, which killed thousands, and it was a life-saving skill back then.

Concorde said:

Once I was a rep and walked a lot in horrible weather but never caught a cold.Once I was back working in an office I got all sorts. People who still go to work despite being ill are a menace especially if you are a carer and don't want to catch anything unnecessarily.

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People are scared to take too much time off as they might be chosen when redundancies are being considered or just sacked.
I remember a lady being chosen for redundancy on the basis that she had the most time off which was caused by her having a Hysterectomy ,when I represented her on appeal and pointed out that she could not have another one whilst many of the other ladies of a similar age could .The decision was reversed

Chocomin said:

Japanese people don't like to use tissues/blow noses in public so the masks are to disguise unchecked runny noses and constant snuffling!

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don't think so most masks worn are to try and filter out the pollution in the air. here in Bangkok my wife on a hospital visit was coughing and sneezing a nurse gave her a mask to protect other patients

Fairygodmother said:

I too wish people were more considerate when coughing and sneezing in public, and when leaving their infections on anything they touch. As every T1 knows, getting ill isn't just a matter of powering up our immune systems to deal with it but also the added physical wretchedness of high blood sugars and calculating sick-day insulin doses to bring them down and avoid hypos. I always feel that the same illness hits us twice as hard as it does non-diabetics.
It's possible to cough or sneeze without spreading germs (use a hanky when coughing or hold in the explosion when sneezing). My mother taught me how. One of the teachers at the primary school she went to taught her: the teacher had survived the flu epidemic of 2018, which killed thousands, and it was a life-saving skill back then.

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I agree, Fairygodmother, (though i think you mean 1918!). I have been unwell for a short time just recently, i am retired and able to rest up, nurse myself, and symptoms were not terrible, BUT you are correct - a major problem is managing the massive fluctuations in blood glucose that many diabetics may have, ( I had not, till your post, realised that Type 2's had such variations also.) . And we have to manage things just at the time others would be coping by sleeping, etc. Re the extent of my own changes in insulin need, see below re TD insulin for the short illness i have just had , The first 3 days are roughly the usual amounts, but i felt unwell, then the immune system got going - 20.8, 22.2, 20.8, 28.6, 30.5, 31.7, 17.2 (sudden drop, hopefully nearly ok) It is easier sorting this out on the pump than it was when i was not, and i can keep the carbs approx the same, by eating anytime when not high blood glucose, but is still a struggle managing large variations in insulin need without ketones or hypos, esp if ill for longer......

sorry, fairygodmother, i re read your post, and am not sure why i thought you were type 2......re your post, the major problem re sorting out viruses for me is that i cant just raise the base rate, as advised re 'sick days' - it seems that chemicals released when i am ill, which have an anti insulin effect, are being pulsed in, as if there is an internal regulator, putting in an immune system boost, then waiting to see its effect, a zig zag effect, which goes on for days, with insulin need rising overall, and then, when insulin need falls back, things are not stable for some days - eg, instead of being 9 or 10 when i woke today, i was 3.6 and not feeling good at all..........
Regarding this thread, i still think masks a good idea, they could be some help.....after all, if it is best to just venture out and wait for the immune system to hopefully build up, why have we got flu vaccinations for certain groups? I think because it is recognised that immune systems differ in their effectiveness... .