Sneezing And Sniffling? Stay Home

By Debra Auerbach

You knew it was only a matter of time. You wake up one morning with a pounding headache and a throat that feels like sandpaper. You force your aching limbs out of bed and take your temperature. As the mercury rises to 100 degrees, you contemplate whether or not you should go to work. You have a big meeting that day, so you decide you have to go. Plus, you rationalize that you can always leave after the meeting if you're still feeling ill.

As you sniffle your way to the subway, you mumble to yourself that it was surely your cube mate Tom who got you sick, because he'd been sneezing nonstop for the past week. Yet as you settle into your cube, coughing uncontrollably, you become the next culprit to spread the sickness to your co-workers. At least you can take comfort that you're not alone. A recent Accountemps survey found that 76 percent of workers came to work sick at least somewhat frequently.