please empty your brain below

Would a surgical face mask have helped, like you often seen worn on the street in Japan?Either when you have a cold, or to stop you getting someone else's.
I know sometimes people cannot avoid going out amongst people when they have a contagious infection. Perhaps Kieran had to make that train journey.
What annoys me is when infectious people mix with others unnecessarily.
I caught a cold on Monday of last week sitting next to someone at a social coffee morning, by Thursday I had the symptoms.
I have since discovered that several others who were there also caught same cold.
That one person infected at least 4 by going to a coffee morning, a purely social event of no importance.

I wonder if the lady sitting next to you on the train also caught Kieran's cold.

Hope you feel better soon.
Off topic warning.
Has anyone else noticed that DG has an aversion to the word sitting. '..but the lady sat beside me was fully settled ...' etc
You have my sympathy,DG. I,too,have a very good idea where my virus came from,travelling on a bus in London on Sunday.
Funny how generous people are with them,spreading them around and never having a handkerchief or even a hand to catch the little perishers in !! But that means that they simply smear the contents over every surface.
Oh,for really cold weather when we can keep our gloves on, on buses,trains etc.😷😷
Easy to be virtuous,DG, when you are currently between jobs. But what if you were still working in Central London: what would you do today - in honesty? And, from experience in my office this week, if Kieran had not given you the current cold, someone else would have pretty soon.
We all know what it means, but don't you think 'cold' is an odd name for an illness? "I have a cold" immediately suggests the question "A cold what?" Ah, the wonderful English language!

Of course, it can also be 'a common cold', but whoever heard of an uncommon cold?
I'm unconvinced that it's possible to pinpoint exactly where, or from whom, you've been infected. That said, Virgin West Coast horrid Pendilino carriages are the likeliest source of all manner of infections. I detest them and can disembarkation never come too soon.

Virgin East Coast services are normally more comfortable, cooler and cleaner.
Of course the schools went back in September, all that bacteria and viruses meeting new hosts, many parents had colds a couple of weeks later. University followed, which meant geographical spread into new areas.

I wonder if it's best to avoid colds and flu, as it means you get hit harder when you eventually are ill, remember how bad the 2014/5 virus was?, I spent three days shivering, even under a duvet with the central heating on! Subsequently discovered this was a bad sign, as it meant that you have a severe fever.

Currently on the list for my flu jab - reports that this year will be bad again.
As the Good Lord Clarkson once said 'all you get from public transport is a used ticket and a skin disease from the person sitting next to you'. I seem to have frequently acquired the former but never the latter. Perhaps I have just been very fortunate.
Interesting coincidence that you post this at the start of the 3-day BBC pandemic exercise! My app is running, but whether I catch anything from the Haslemere 'outbreak' remains to be seen...
I have recently read and tried out a suggestion, and it seems to work, as far as I can tell. When you feel a sneeze coming on, and you either do not have a tissue or handkerchief, or you think that you will not extract it in time, then sneeze not into your hand, especially not into mid-air, but into your own elbow (clad or otherwise). Germs arriving there are much less likely to find an onward route to another victim.
AFAIK the original expression was "I have caught the cold", when you find yourself with the symptoms after going outside and getting too cold (which lowers one's resistance to the viruses that are often about).
Malcolm mine were all taught to cough into their elbow rather than their hand as well! When you have 5 kids, every little bit to try to contain the contagion helps!
Why would anyone want to use their hand when they then touch all manner of things with it?

Wouldn't it be wonderful if "Kieran" was as reader of this blog!! Hope you're both feeling better soon.
The name "the cold" doubtless comes from the observation that the infection is much more common in cold weather.

But I think the reason for this is probably not much to do with cold weather lowering resistance. Cold weather encourages lots of infection-spreading behaviours, like closing windows, staying indoors and getting closer to other people.
It is interesting that despite his penetratingly detailed observation of 'Kieran', DG, in a 140 minute journey, did not actually speak to Kieran (nor apparently to the lady next to DG) even once.
How British, how disdainful.
A few words of sympathy (and carefully worded advice) might have worked wonders.

dg writes: I did actually speak to Kieran. I didn't deign to offer him 'advice' though.
As I walked into the supermarket this morning a customer just ahead of me turned her head and sneezed towards me. She apologised, I tutted. I am shortly to start a course of chemotherapy and have been told I'll have a compromised immune system. Unfortunately there is no way to avoid 'germs' unless I don't go out for months, but then of course that means my husband and family and friends have to be germ free too. Not possible. Hope you feel better soon DG, lemon and honey is good, as is a bar of chocolate. (I see that it is Chocolate Week from your recent blog).
DG, when you gripe I usually (99%) agree with you, but not today.You should either have moved and gone without the electricity or said something firm but polite to Kieran. I have been sneezing for the last 6 months or so, no cold but 'something' and the 'sneeze into the elbow' technique is the obvious solution if the sneeze comes on without warning and without time to grab a tissue or hankie. A gentle pointing out to the young man of what to do surely would not have provoked WWIII!

dg writes: You may have missed this sentence. "Kieran seemed a well-brought-up boy, and always attempted to cover his mouth when a respiratory attack emerged."
You should have moved. Mind you, made for a blog post so stop moaning.

dg writes: ...and you may have missed the phrase "so I don't want you to think I'm moaning".
When I was in Japan, someone explained to me "No, people don't wear face masks to keep out pollution - they wear the masks to keep IN their germs"

Would you wear one, dg?
Yup, James is right. The bulk of Japanese face masks are for people who have colds etc. Very civilised, so sadly they haven't caught on here.

You may find this clip interesting. Disgusting, but interesting.
Video: Nothing to Sneeze At
Night nurse and you'll be as fit as a fiddle, trust me
I did feel a little let down to discover right at the end that he wasn't actually called the name that had been used until that point. I felt I'd built a bond and suddenly had it broken.

Hope you're soon feeling better!
Hope you feel better soon DG.
I seem to remember that one reason the erstwhile Common Cold Research Centre was closed down was that they couldn't actually demonstrate the kind of transmission that DG claims took place. Anecdotally, my wife has had a cold but hasn't passed it on to me despite far more opportunity than Kieran.
Hopefully this occurrence will give DG time to study the research into the Common Cold and its transmission and report back to us.
I Refuse to comment on the grounds it may incriminate me...
Would this have made a difference to the Mystery Count had it happened in February?










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