Staying home can protect others, while also giving you a chance to recover.
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Should You Stay Home?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides guidelines for stopping the spread of infectious diseases.
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A common illness that youre probably familiar with isinfluenza(the flu).
The flu is brought on by a virus that spreads easily.
Many other contagious illnesses can make you sick and that you, in turn, can spread to others.
Think of Yourselfand Others
Staying home when youre sick is important because your body needs to rest.
Stay home if you have a fever of 100.4F or higher.
This helps prevent the infectious particles from beingspread into the airor on the things that you touch.
Washing your hands regularly is also critical to preventing the spread of infection.
Having clean hands helps keep you from gettinginfectious particles to surfacesthat other people will touch.
However, asore throatcan also be a symptom of many contagious illnesses, likestrep throat.
It might come on gradually or suddenly, depending on what is causing it.
With strep, you’ll also likely have a fever.
If it hurts to swallow, breathe, or talk, your safest bet is to stay home.
If you have strep throat, you’ll need to take antibiotics.
Should You Stay Home With Laryngitis?
Not all illnesses that inflame thevoice box, causing you to behoarseor lose your voice, are contagious.
However, if youre constantly blowing your nose, its more likely youve caught something.
In this case, its best to take a sick day.
For example, ear pain can be brought on by something as simple ashaving a lot of ear wax.
Some ear problems canaffect your balanceand could make it unsafe for you to go to work.
If thats the case, call out sick.
you might spread it to other people just by touching infected objects.
If you have pink eye, youll need to stay home.
If You Have a Rash
Many rashes likedermatitis, allergies, andpoison ivyare not contagious.
However, some, like the one caused bychickenpox, are easy to spread.
There are also some very serious rashes.
While theyre less common, theyre important to know about.
For example,methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)is a serious bacterial infection that can cause a rash.
The virus has gotten better at surviving treatment with antibiotics (antibiotic resistance).
In some cases, people can die from MRSA infections.
To find out of a rash is contagious or not, youll need to see your provider.
If it is, youll have to stay home from work until its been treated.
What About COVID-19?
Consider following these steps:
How Do I Call In Sick for Mental Health?
You dont need to tell your boss all about your symptoms.
If you leave home when youre sick, you could get other people sick, too.
And if youre contagious, staying home means you are sparing others from catching what you have.
If you regularly communicate with your manager over text, it may be OK.
But a call is generally preferable.
Check your companys sick policy.
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