Few of us want to work when we have a cold. Sniffles, aches and pains, and general fatigue and the feeling of not being well make it very hard to be motivated to work. Most of us will work on through these symptoms, however. There are times, though, when we should definitely stay home rather than working. How do you know the difference?

There are two very important considerations when making this decision: Your health, and the health of those around you.

When you have a severe cold, your body's resistance drops and more and more resources are used to combat the cold. This causes a health risk to you. For instance, if the cold settles into your chest, it isn't difficult to contract viral pneumonia, which can be fatal, and at the very least will keep you in bed for days. You may need the money you get from work, but if you get a secondary illness, the consequences can be a lot worse than just losing a day or two of work.

Another part of this deals with what you'd be doing if you didn't stay home. If you are using machinery, precision devices, or are driving, continuing to do these things is not wise as you can easily lose control at the worst possible moment, putting you, others, and your work in jeopardy. If you work in the elements, it isn't wise to continue working since with low resistance to secondary illness, the cold, wind, rain, or other conditions you are subjected to increase the likelihood that those other possible illnesses will take hold.

If you work with others, or with the public, their safety must also be considered, and it is an important thing to think about. It probably comes as no difficulty to see that a waitress, cook, cashier, or receptionist can pass on the cold to countless other people. After all, you can't pause every couple minutes to wipe your nose and wash your hands. But it can actually be worse in an office environment. The confined space will concentrate the virus, making it much more likely that others will get it.

This becomes especially true if your cold is of the sort that causes a lot of coughing or sneezing. No matter how hard you try, you will not be successful in preventing the transmission of the virus.

Colds are also often accompanied with flu, and in fact, some of our self-diagnosis in thinking we have a cold is incorrect; it's the flu rather than a cold. Some types of flu have nearly the same symptoms as a cold. Regardless, this presents yet another danger to you. If you are running

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