I am perhaps becoming quite french, but I am very distrusting of the authorities in these matters.
In the hospital I work in, we had four employees suddenly fall sick, one after another. The symptoms were strange- painful blisters appearing on the
hands and feet- to the point one could not walk, another could not use her hands.
Some had fevers at the beginning, some also vomitted and had diarrhea.
The doctor who saw the first one said it was an allergic reaction to some sterilization products we use daily. They thought she must have also spilled
some in her shoes. The ones who vomitted had a stomach flu at the same time as a reaction.
I kept saying, wait, we have been using the same products everyday for years! We have not changed them. Though a person can suddenly gain a new
allergy, FOUR at the same time???? I kept getting waved off and ignored. That always sets off bells in my head.
Then one day I suddenly have blisters break out on my hands, they begin bursting and bleeding and hurting like a MOFO. I have two in my mouth. That
night I spend throwing up- with my husband beside me! He had it too!
Took me about five minutes to look up Hand, Foot and Mouth disease, which is exactly these symptoms, and terribly contagious.
It is a well known retrovirus, that kids especially tend to get in collective contexts. I do not believe for a minute that no doctor thought of that,
no employee did a search like I did. My bosses were calling the companies that make the products to find out if they changed their ingredients, but
didn't do a quick search either!
I got it right when I had a vacation of few days, so i did not have to deal with any official sick leave papers or protocal.
But I suspect that if I had, I would have been told to shut up about what it was, because the fact is, we may have given it to so many patients, they
would be in deep crap if it got out.
This is a painful but not serious disease.... but that tendancy to be secretive worries me- how far would a suspected case get, before someone would
ring the alarm??? It seems here, everyone just wants to pass the buck, hoping someone else will get stuck with the blame...
edit on 10-4-2014
by Bluesma because: (no reason given)