I was in Nara, Japan last week for a conference. The weather was kinda weird - normal springtime rains for a couple of evenings, then very sunny and very dry (RH ~ 25%) for a couple of days.

I think I developed a fever early Thursday AM, but seemed to be getting better after 24 hours or so (at least I didn't seem to have a fever any more). I flew home on Friday, occasionally coughing up a storm on the plane (and I'm sure making my fellow passengers worry that they were going to catch whatever it was that I had).

I spent Saturday mostly lying around, and didn't seem to be getting better. Around 11 PM, J took my temperature and found it was 102.5. Hmm. Maybe it's not just a cold? Sunday I spent most of the day in bed until we decided I better go to a clinic. The waiting room seemed to be ACed to about 55F so we were both freezing. Vitals, swabs of nose and throat, etc., etc. 35 minutes to get test results.

Positive for the flu.

WTF?!

Yup.

J developed a fever this AM and saw the same clinic, she started on Tamiful this evening (it was too late for me).

There seems to be a good reason why so many people in Japan wear surgical masks when they're out in public...

I'm infectious until 24 hours after my temperature returns to normal (which seemed to happen this afternoon), so I won't be back at work until Wednesday at the earliest.

Lessons:
1) (As we know) flu vaccines aren't universal.
2) It doesn't pay to wait to see the doc if you suspect you may have the flu. There are quick tests these days to say whether it's the flu or not. Tamiflu and the like only works (to reduce the duration of the illness, not cure it) when given in the first 24-48 hours or so.

I hope you folks had a good holiday weekend.

Cheers,
Scott.