Common Cold Fatality Report

If you do come to work sick, you’ll probably infect your co-workers. A 2010 Virginia Tech study found that a single sneeze from a worker with the flu can infect an entire room with the virus for hours. And while many people recover from the flu within a week or so, others may develop serious complications that can sometimes lead to death.

If you don’t stay home to get well, your workplace almost always ends up less productive and you’re more likely to get injured because you will be more focused on how terrible you feel than on working safely.

Example:

Ron hasn’t taken a sick day in 20 years, no matter the job, no matter the company. Not even from a good dose of the flu. Sweating, sneezing, coughing and wiping his nose, he never misses a beat.

Ron recently did it again, working through a nasty cold. He coughed, sneezed and sprayed germs all over the office meeting room, doorknobs, printers and everything else he touched.

Less than one week after Ron’s illness, four of his co-workers called in sick, including Bob, whose diabetes put him at risk of developing a serious complication and landed him in the hospital.