I think it was on NBC Nightly News where I saw that the regular influenza that is making the rounds this winter requires a transfer of roughly a thousand cells to infect a person while the norovirus only requires eighteen.

This is a really crappy bug!

Norovirus is a nasty nuisance that will make you rill sick for 24 to 48 hours, but unless you have vulnerabilities brought on by extremely young or old age or other infirmity, it is just ye olde stomach icke.

Flu, OTOH, can kill you.

It's made the rounds here. Life with a 6-year-old boy.

And then they say, the areas with the most germs are lemon wedges, bathroom door handles, condiment dispensers and soap dispensers.

If you read article, the message is fairly clear: avoid restaurants.

Eat at home.

It's the difference between trying to cross a two lane country road and crossing an eight lane interstate highway.

Restaurants carry more vehicles to carry germs from more people that one eater can ingest at one time.

It's a numbers racket. Too much food exposed to too many people at one time. The odds are against you.

Of course, if people quit eating out, what, 2/3 of Knoxville's economy is crippled?

omg, I had a stomach virus last year that landed me in the emergency room. Sickest I've felt in many years.

Please, not again.

southern states (particularly Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas) have the highest rates of both new infections and existing cases, as well as the worst outcomes in terms of ____ related complications and deaths.

One of several reasons for this tremendous disparity is that these states currently have highly restrictive Medicaid eligibility, leaving most low-income individuals without access to treatment (and thus more likely to transmit the virus
as well as experience deteriorating health).

There are now 61 hospitals in Tennesee’s 49 rural counties. Of these 61 rural hospitals, 24 are at risk of closing because they have, on average, lost money over the past three years. If these hospitals close because the State does not expand its Medicaid program, it would leave 21 rural counties without a hospital.

I have ordered drinks with no lemons for several years after seeing a news report on the high frequency of ecoli on lemons in restaurants,

How about the lemon or olive that comes with my martini? Do I have to forgo them as well?