Chapman University biologist says physiology shifts gears from anticipating sickness to defense mode:
Surrounded by coworkers who are sniffling and sneezing?
You may not be able to ask for sick leave preemptively, but your body is already preparing for battle, says Patricia C. Lopes, assistant professor of biological sciences at Chapman University's Schmid College of Science and Technology.
[...] Lopes' article in the British Ecological Society journal Functional Ecology "Anticipating infection: How parasitism risk changes animal physiology" highlights research showing that there are scenarios in which our physiology changes prior to becoming sick, when disease risk is high.
"In other words," Lopes, explains, "our brains can obtain information from diseased people and then elicit changes to our physiology. For example, observing images of sick people can already trigger activation of the immune system."
From a big picture perspective, this means that parasites affect our lives much more than previously considered, because they are already affecting our physiology even before they invade us, she says.
Journal Reference:
Patricia C. Lopes, Anticipating infection: How parasitism risk changes animal physiology [open], Functional Ecology, 2022. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.14155
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Opportunist on Saturday September 10 2022, @01:09PM (6 children)
Or as my employer calls it, home office.
We have the standing order that if we don't feel 100% healthy, we MUST work from home (with the inherent threat of termination if they find out you felt ill and came in), complete with non-invasive temperature scan at the entrance (basically a IR-cam checking your body temperature). They are (rightfully) terribly afraid that a whole department ceases to exist due to the disease.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Barenflimski on Saturday September 10 2022, @04:38PM (1 child)
My LLC has a standing order that clearly states that all employees (me) will not be showing up to the office unless there is beer or food. It must not start before 9am, nor end after 5pm. All times other than 9-5 are considered employee investment hours, and charged at a quadruple rate on top of the retainer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 10 2022, @10:16PM
The alcohol is a disinfectant, it's there to kill all the germs in your body when you drink it.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 10 2022, @06:15PM (3 children)
So if you think you might have a contagious disease just work from home.
If enough people do this it could tame some diseases a bit or make the asymptomatic period a lot longer.
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Saturday September 10 2022, @07:18PM (2 children)
As long as you have employers that threaten people who "dare" to be sick with termination, this will continue. Ever went to a grocery store where the clerks sniffle and cough all over your goods?
I guess it's time to start complaining about this. Not about the workers there, but about management not sending them home if they're obviously sick.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 12 2022, @04:50PM (1 child)
The sick workers should shake their bosses hands... Or at least smear some germ-laden mucus on stuff that they are likely to touch (car handle etc).
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Tuesday September 13 2022, @04:33AM
You assume that the responsible assholes would get into contact, or at least into the same room, with the plebes? C'mon.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 10 2022, @06:07PM
See also:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797610368064 [sagepub.com]
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1469-8986.2010.01165.x [wiley.com]
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0889159112001936 [sciencedirect.com]