Sick

Yesterday my resident had a fever of 101 on rounds. He was coughing all over the place and didn't wear a mask to isolate himself from us.

Today, he was out sick (not surprising) and so was my attending (very surprising).

I woke up with mild aches and developed a mild sore throat over the course of the morning. I put on a mask but convinced myself I slept badly last night. I lasted through one post-lunch lecture, then dragged myself to student health, where a strep test and flu test were negative (of COURSE the strep test was negative; I know I don't have strep. Now I'm going to pay through my deductible, stupid nurse...), BUT I had a fever. So I got sent home. Can't return to the hospital until Friday (score!).

Of course, it still might be flu. This year's flu vaccine (which I got) is crap against the actual epidemic strains, influenza A (H1N1) and (H3N2), and the viruses are showing increasing resistance to oseltamivir (Tamiflu). That's not good news. Nevertheless, I should have insisted on a prescription even though my flu test was negative. But I couldn't think clearly because I'm sick, dammit. Oh well. Read this if you're a virus nerd like me: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm57e215a1.htm

Anyway, I'm going to go crawl under the covers. The biggest decision I have to make right now is, couch or bed?