I got flu

The 2nd week of February was a very busy week in the office.

I was so busy I did not pay too much attention to a colleague in the office who had a flu symptom on Tuesday, he was coughing and had  fever. I stood close to him during one conversation, and that night I felt a bit under weather - I breathed in some vinegar vapor from boiled vinegar after dinner and went to bed early. I felt fine the next morning - thinking that I avoided another flu infection.

Wednesday was a really tiring day: meetings, talking to many peoples the whole afternoon at a technology day exhibit,  and not sanitizing hands as frequently as usual. I felt really tired at the end of the day.  After dinner I felt body ache, and then I felt cold - I had 100+F fever!  I succumbed to flu for the first time in eight years.

The last time I had flu was 8 years ago. That time, Justin got flu from school. The boys played together  the big brother transmitted the virus to the younger one. Then one day Nicholas did not finish his meal, Dad was requested to finish it for him, and next day Dad had flu! One by one each member of our family took turn to have flu. We finally decided to enforce a new rule - boil vinegar to produce vinegar vapor to kill virus when someone has flu symptom; use communal chopsticks at family meals to prevent transmission of virus among family members.

With these measures, transmission of virus between family members is essentially eliminated. The kids still get flu from school though. Additional things I do consistently, and recommend to my family members: 1)  be really diligent  in washing/sanitizing  hands, especially when come home from school/work; 2) do not get tired, or rest right away when feel tired; 3) take preventive measure when someone at home has a flu symptom, such as boiling some vinegar to produce vinegar vapor .

Those actually are things I do regularly, that was why I did not have flu for 8 years.

I am an advocate of  flu vaccination as well, and I diligently had flu shot at work every year until 2012. I told the nurse who administered flu shot last November that I had fever after flu shot two years in a row, she was a bit nervous and suggested that I do not take the shot, but washing hands and be vigilant around people with flu. I continue to practice my flu prevention measures. From November to early February I survived a flu outbreak in the office, and a prolonged flu by Nicholas. But I did not practice those measures the second week of February - I did not sanitizing my hands at work as frequently as I used to, I was tired, exhausted actually (!!) - and I succumbed to flu virus.

Flu is nasty and can be lethal; but it is preventable.