# 3825
Yesterday, on Twitter, this `tweet’ came across my desktop from @Caroldn.
It was so good, I immediately re-tweeted it.
If you get sick, pledge to yourself: "This germ stops with me" Don't pass it forward.
A simple enough message.
Yet - if we all followed this advice - we could substantially reduce the impact of this pandemic virus practically overnight.
You see, this novel H1N1 virus needs fresh, susceptible hosts in order to survive. Each person who gets infected, on average, ends up passing on the virus to between 1.5 to 2.0 other people.
If we can reduce that number, we slow the pandemic. We break the chain of infection.
Which means, if you are sick. Please stay home.
Vow, if you get sick, to become a dead-end for the virus.
Let the virus you caught, and all of the billions of copies it will generate during your illness, die with your infection. You can do that by simply not exposing others while you are sick.
If you are an employer, send home anyone who appears ill.
The marginal gain you might get out of having that person working isn’t worth the risk of their infecting other employees or your customers.
And although they like seem small things, it really does matter that we cover our coughs and wash our hands.
Even when we don’t think we are sick.
While this virus does not pose a serious health threat to the vast majority of people, for a small number, it can be life threatening.
The virus you pass on to a co-worker could end up being passed on to their toddler with asthma, or an aunt with diabetes, or a neighbor on chemotherapy.
You may never know what ill effects your going to work or to school with this virus may have, but that won’t change the reality.
Our actions have consequences.
Every person who gets vaccinated, by the way, is (generally speaking) one less susceptible host for the virus to infect, replicate in, and spread from.
During a pandemic, we owe it to our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers, and our society to make smart, responsible choices.
We need to think of this as our social responsibility. Our contribution to the pandemic effort.
Remember:
If you get sick, pledge to yourself: "This germ stops with me" Don't pass it forward.
Take the pledge.
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