When Ignition (the fire dancers) performed Saturday night at Radcon, they did one of their early routines to Down With the Sickness by the rock band Disturbed. In no way did I imagine it prophetic.
Turned out there was a truly nasty stomach/intestinal bug ripping through Radcon. It’s pretty normal to get sick at any SF con; it’s as close as there is to an airplane ride or a third grade classroom in terms of random proximity to lots of careless people who might be ill. This one is worse. It produces power-chucks, vicious runs, and a lot of pain/fatigue. Dozens of cases. I had no idea it was even happening.
Life’s mercies: neither I nor my friends caught it. John had a nasty hanger-on cold/sore throat that caused him to sleep through most of Monday, but no stomach stuff except that he had the appetite of a hummingbird (if that). My strong suspicion is that Deb and I had this in Anchorage; sounds quite familiar. In any case, bullet dodged, and fortunately so. I feel badly for the many who fell ill.
Edit: so I post this, and Jenn PMs me to advise me: ‘not so fast, my friend.’ Goddamnit! Evidently they’re both under the weather. No fun!
The Editorial Maverick 
My husband got it and has been miserable for the past 24 hours. I’ve been lucky so far – no sign of it. Of course, he’ll be contagious for a few more days, according to the CDC’s norovirus page, so I’m sure it’ll catch up with me at some point.
But hey – at least we had fun!
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I hope he’s better soon, Adrienne. If it’s what we had in Anchorage, he should be. Wish I’d been able to hang out more than just sitting behind you in a panel! You were your usual erudite self.
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Oh no!
I feel fine but one of my roomies had a very self-limited episode of N&V that began Friday an hour after we had dinner together, and culminated 2 hours later when she vomited on the sidewalk. none of us had consumed any ETOH. Heather immediately felt better and stayed better, so I pronounced it food poisoning (which I still believe it was).
Others, though, are probably afflicted with a norowalk virus. Please see Radcon’s FB page: the Benton-Franklin Health Dept has been notified and is collecting epidemiological info. (Jenn, this includes you!) People have been flooding into all 3 area ERs, and several have needed hospitalization.
I hope Jenn and company are OK. I’m fine, and so are my 2 roomies (incl. the one who had the bout Friday night). I do think my meticulous professional hand-washing habits worked in my favor, as we went everywhere all weekend.
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Very good information, OSG, thanks much. Radcon’s FB page is actually where I learned about it. And yes, it cannot hurt, at all, to wash one’s hands regularly at any con. They are giant Petri dishes. While I lack your professional training, for what it’s worth I agree about Heather’s situation. It’s quite possible, after all, for there to be a virus AND food poisoning overlapping in the same area, muddying the diagnostic waters.
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My husband and I weren’t hit with the disaster until we reached our home in California on Monday evening. At least we could share our misery in a multi-toilet residence. If the bug turns out to be a Norovirus, I suspect it tagged us together on Sunday around dinnertime, when we were together and not in our room. I think Norovirus can survive for 24 hours on surfaces and resist some sanitizing agents. Did it wait for us on an elevator button or on that table in the bar? David is fine now. Alas, I’m not.
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Yes, Laurel, it’s those times when multiple facilities pay their way. Being sick away from home is several times as unpleasant. My philosophy is that disease always tears through crowds, sometimes worse sometimes not so badly. In any case, I hope you catch up soon to David’s wellness, and thanks for visiting the blog!
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