Return of masking

I just had my Actemra infusion today. All of the staff that I could see were all wearing masks again. They said it was because of an outbreak of influenza A. The annual flu vaccine is always a hit or miss kind of thing depending on the strain that emerges every year.

When I read about the history of influenza, we are still fortunate.
https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/history-of-vaccination/history-of-influenza-vaccination

I've never stopped wearing a mask in public places, especially the doctor's and chemist where sick people are most likely to be. Outdoors I don't. The receptionist at the ultrasound place recently asked me why I was wearing one when they no longer required it. I let her know that some of us have auto-immune conditions and wear them to avoid catching anything that might cause an immune response.

Last time I caved in to pressure from a friend (before PMR) to visit her family who were recovering from a "bad bug", I caught whooping cough which hit me hard and had me in bed delirious with constant coughing fits for 5 days. It was scary to be so sick. Now I don't care what people think. The mask is still on and I avoid anyone who is unwell.