I did everything right...I got my flu shot, washed my hands, disinfected, you name it. Working the front-line in a walk clinic makes it hard to stay healthy. Two weeks ago I had "haemophilus influenzae", which is caused by a bacteria unlike the flu we think of, so a round of antibiotics fixed me up. And eye drops for the pink eye that came along with it.
Friday afternoon I asked our nurse to take my temp - I wasn't feeling right. It was a low-grade fever, but I started taking Tylenol immediately. The loud barking cough that went with it was starting to indicate Influenza (the viral kind), so I promised I'd come in the next morning to get looked at.
That night was a nightmare of unproductive coughing and fever delirium. My FitBit says I got 52 minutes of sleep. I was coughing so hard I would sometime retch with dry heaves, causing my face to break out in red spots. My throat felt like it had been flayed open with razors, and I felt like I couldn't keep my eyes open. I got in the car and went to the clinic, which was a scary drive in itself. I found myself weaving a bit, but made it there. The provider and nurse both took a look at me and said "you have influenza based on how sick you are", but I wanted proof, since I had always relied on the flu shot to keep me safe.
Sure enough, the test showed Influenza A. It made me think back to a day about 5 days before, where a family of 6, all anti-vaxxers, came in, all obviously very ill. And they all had Influenza A too. If they had their vaccines, would they have avoided the trip to the clinic?
I went home with my Tamiflu and cough medicine, and went straight to bed. I still couldn't sleep, but I had no energy to be anywhere else. The TV was blinding, and when I tried to eat 2 sugar snap peas, I threw them up.
Today, 3 days later, I still have a fever, my throat is raw, but my cough has subsided just enough to snatch a couple minutes sleep. And just the effort of writing this is proving too much. I need to head back to bed.
