Here’s a message from me – and the many others who suffered through the flu recently:

This goes out to those thoughtful people who insisted on going out into public areas when they had the flu.

My journey into illness most likely started when I attended a speaker night at the National Library in August. As the speaker was about to start, someone sat behind us and then started to cough something horrible.

My guess is – if I was right in judging her condition – is that there is probably a whole group of twenty or more people who were sitting near her who can now thank her  – given that it is most likely that they consequently developed a very serious flu.

For anyone out there who managed to avoid this flu, I can assure you it was nasty – and it did not stop with just one infection. This nasty thing hit you suddenly (Friday morning all good – Friday afternoon in bed shivering), days later you got better, then when you were started to relax, it mutated into something else. And if you were really unlucky, as was I, it then repeated this again.

Thanks to that person behind me who was coughing, I have had on and off, five weeks of this thing.

Before you ask – yes I had flu vaccinations back in April. Sadly this one is new and has mutated so quickly – and continues to do so, that makers of vaccinations have not been able to keep up.

My message to anyone who hears anyone with a serious cough in a public space: Run! Don’t talk to the person – just get the hell out of there.

As I explained to a friend who is now very cautious about catching this thing – you also have to be very careful when you go shopping. It is possible that someone before you coughed into their hands and then picked up a shopping basket – possibly the one you are now carrying. If so, your luck may be about to change.

In theory at least, such a vicious flu virus does not spread by itself. It takes someone to be in denial or wanting to be generous to share for this type of flu to spread.

That is, if everyone who was captured by this flu bug stayed home, then that would have been the end of it. No vaccinations required – if anyone who got it – stayed away from everyone else.

Alas that would take a change of culture and habits of society that still has not learnt the lessons that are learnt every couple of years or so when another of these nasty virus things gets spread around the world.

So to finish – thank you to all those thoughtful people who knew they have this flu, but feel that they needed to go to work, go shopping, go to events and by their actions have made the decision to share their flu.

Thank you for sharing  – please do not do that again.