We get it — it can be super frustrating for managers when multiple employees call out sick at the same time. And even though we are finally out of this year’s long flu season and norovirus is declining, we still have two major issues to contend with: common colds and allergies.
Rhinoviruses and enteroviruses are two causes of the common cold, and both are high across the country right now. These usually peak in the early fall and late spring - so you’ll be glad to hear that we expect the numbers to start dropping in the next week or two and stay low for the summer.
It’s also peak allergy season in huge swaths of the U.S. right now, and each year is breaking the previous records, both in severity and length of allergy season.
In a cruel twist of fate, having allergies can make you more susceptible to getting a cold, and vice versa. So if you have an employee struggling with allergies who then also gets sick, it’s possible they’re not a faker — just unlucky.
Yes, it’s not just in your head! Allergy seasons are getting worse — and longer. In part, it’s due to climate change. Warmer temperatures mean that plants are blooming sooner, so pollen season is longer overall. There are also higher pollen counts and larger particles than in the past, which can make symptoms worse. For much of the U.S., winter is now the only season without major allergens (like pollen or ragweed) in the air. Warmer states in the South have very little respite.
As allergy seasons get longer and more intense, more adults are developing new allergies, too. What might not have bothered them before is now strong enough to cause an allergic reaction.
The bad news: you may want to buy your Zyrtec in bulk. The good news: employees generally don’t need to be excluded from work for allergies, so your staffing shouldn’t take too big of a hit.
Sources: The Atlantic, YLE, Royal Society
We really appreciated this interview with the public health director in Lubbock, Texas, who is fighting to stop the largest measles outbreak since 2000 despite a chaotic reorganization of federal health agencies. She’s been an epidemiologist for 25 years, but before this year, she’d never seen a measles case.