Other viruses

Hope you eventually got back to sleep Starblaze.
My fears are that we will all put on so much weight during this awful period that the future health of our population will be seriously impacted.
I used this illustration on another thread but as it is apt I’ll add it here.
Nothing like a big smile to start the day.

Like it Esspee

I think we could well end up healthier as we'll get back into the habit of 'self-isolating' when we aren't well. I remember when, if you had a cold, you stayed off school or home from work. If you had something infectious you didn't want to spread it. Until this pandemic though, it's become normal to go to work however bad you were feeling. Cold, flu, tummy bug, whatever.

I think it was a case that employers thought a cold was no excuse not to go to work. I have been asked why I couldn't come in just because I had a bad cold. I wonder if that will change. One out come I foresee is more people working from home as employers have discovered that this is possible for their business.

I was reading that in Australia cases of the seasonal flu have dropped because of the social distancing and increase awareness about hand washing!

Unfortunately, whatever decrease there may be in terms of colds, flu, etc. will be far more offset by the enormous increase in mental health problems.
All ages will be effected. I see on these threads far too may people showing increasing signs of OCD type behavior, washing hands every half an hour or so - over-use of disinfectant and bleach in their homes.
Far too many people will think that other human beings are dangerous to them and refuse to come to close to anyone when out.
Every cough and sneeze will be treated as if that person has leprosy - (unclean, unclean).
Many people will develop symptoms that mean that they will be scared to leave (what they think of) as the safety of their homes.
And, it could leave us more vulnerable to things like colds, etc. One of the main reasons why older people seem to catch these less than younger ones is that they have built up an immunity over the years. We need to have that natural immunity in our systems.

Agree Franbern those people who were struggling to overcome OCD and anxiety (Like mysef) will now believe that their irrational behaviour was actually right.

Yes, I'm worried that because we don't come across other germs we may lose our immunity to them and that after the lockdown we could be subject to more colds, etc.

It certainly feels like nothing will be the same again but I would definitely love to see long term changes, like people being expected to stay home with illness. Also much more emphasis and understanding in workplaces about mental health. Given my field, our bosses are veery understanding of things like that already

It's hard to say, isn't it? Many of us will continue to take a reasonable amount of care with such things as hand washing etc, but those who aren't listening anyway will probably carry on as before.
I've been doing the hand washing ever since I got cancer five years ago and my immune system was down. Has it helped? I think I've suffered fewer colds in the main but I'm not sure it's made an enormous difference. I shall remain vigilant though I've been told it's OTT - I don't agree.

I was brought up with a very strict rule of always washing your hands before you touched food. If I picked and ate a blackberry from the hedge I felt I’d really sinned!

We visited Kennilworth Castle last summer and I watched a toddler running down a grassy slope and falling often, then running back to his mum to grab and eat a handful of crisps. It had been raining and the grass had muddy areas. And - there were quite a few geese around so much of the mud wasn’t!

This virus has brought everyone up short and caused us all to think much more about hygiene.

No point in being healthier if our mental health is shot to pieces Humans are born to be social animals and also need to build up our own immunity by not being chemicalized with cleaning products
Yes we have to be aware of cleanliness and yes we have to observe lockdown but we MUST NOT let it become our whole life it must not totally encompass us it will have long lasting mental health problems if we do
I already know two people without underlying health problems that won’t even put their noses out of their door living in such fear is terrible terrible bad for you I offered to walk round to one and just talk to her from her gateway but it was refused as she was too panicked to even talk to me from a distance

Seasonal flu usually occurs in winter and Australia is only just approaching winter, April to October, peaking in about August, *Bluesky, but, yes, it will be interesting to see if social distancing will have any effect.

And I hope that proper handwashing will continue

Thinking about it, I think the two are connected anyway, feeling low and unhappy has an impact on physical health and vice versa

I have to say hubby and I have been lucky in that we are not having mental health problems due to the lock down. We are very busy being occupied doing jobs around the house. Hubby walks every day and I did until told not to because of my swollen knee. Before the lock down we both had our own interests and did things separately or together but have just now got into another routine without problems.
When I worked I always thought anyone coming into work with a heavy cold was very selfish in spreading it around and especially as we worked in the NHS. Patients have enough problems without catching something additional.
Life can have problems and there are many people who will suffer because of the lock down which prevents them from working. Money is short, children are at home and need to be home schooled. People live in apartments with no outside space there are many situations which can be a nightmare but we have to keep going hoping that there will be a good outcome and that a vaccine or treatment which will allow us to return to some sort of normal life.

Yes Callistemon I thought it was a bit early in the season for Australia to mention the reduction in seasonal flu. Of course they are now easing the lockdown over there so it will be interesting. I guess it's bound to though, when we were working we did catch a lot more colds and coughs that we have since retiring.

The only good thing I see from this totally crazy situation is that air pollution has fallen, and we seem to be appreciating wild life more.
If infectious diseases have dropped , it’s been offset by other factors , health wise. Such as mental health challenges, health neglect and domestic abuse.

My daughter is a mental health community nurse and has already said there has been an increase in people suffering problems with their mental health. Her team has had a lot of new referrals.
I do hope life styles will change after this to protect the world we live in but realistically I think people will drift back to previous habits.

The first in a long list of rules at my senior school read, ‘No girl may come to school with an infectious cold.’ I’m sure many did, though.

Re catching colds, dh and I hardly had any for years - until we were regularly seeing little grandchildren who were constantly picking them up from nursery/pre school.

Coronavirus is more contagious than other viruses because nobody in the whole world had any resistance to it. And that is because coronavirus is completely new, and nobody had any antibodies to coronavirus on their blood, or even in mothers' milk.

I fully expect many many people will have learned how to wash their hands correctly.

Witzend When I was a teacher, I used to catch at least one bad cold every year. Children are germ buckets. Since I retired (sort of), I can honestly say I haven't had any colds or coughs.

I hadn't had a cold for years until my DGC started at nursery.