a post-blog
Why is it that I'd never had strep throat before moving to Japan, but now I get it at least once a year? Do different countries have different viruses? Is my body ever going to be able to fight it off? If all my friends have the same nasty throat-swelling cold, is it really a bacterial infection? Wouldn't it be a virus? If it's a virus, why do they prescribe me antibiotics?
Posted by marxy at June 23, 2005 2:35 PMman, germs travel fast. we have the same in paris, in spite of the fact that it's outrageously hot.
Posted by: odot at June 23, 2005 5:10 PMStrep is definitely bacterial. Here in America, as a child, I used to get it pretty reliably at the beginning of every winter. I don't believe I do any more, but I do get sick a lot, since I'm pretty sickly, but... the point is, sympathy on the strep (it's short for streptococcus, if memory serves, which is your tipoff to its bacterial nature) which I recall as a nearly debilitating illness. I think our mutual brother Jones similarly suffered from an annual American strep as a child, and he had a generally much hardier immune system than myself.
Posted by: Boyrand at June 24, 2005 12:39 AMDude, your in Tokyo.
If not the most densely populated city the world, certainly in competition. Your hand comes in contact with surfaces that thousands of people touch all day long. (Think escalator hand rail, subway anything). Get some Listerine, the stuff they use here doesn't work for crap. Although people here gargle with when arrive home daily. Always wash your hands when you come home with anti-bacterial soap.
If "strep throat" is secret code for VD then that might explain why they gave you the antibiotics.（笑）
I used to have year-round allergies in the US but here in Japan, despite all the televised 'kafun' warnings, the pollen never seems to effect me.
When my parents came for a two week visit once however, my allergies immediately started up again. Those two terrible snot-blowing weeks made up for the years that I had gone allergy free.
My guess is that there are regional variations of virus and bacteria. Your body is more resistant or immune to some than others. Same with pollen. Then again, in my case, I may just be allergic to my relatives. That would explain a lot.
Posted by: hikikomoriyamanaotaro at June 24, 2005 4:23 AMyeah, it's all about psychology ...
Posted by: porandojin at June 24, 2005 6:11 AMI'm all sympathy.
I wind up shaking the booger-encrusted hands of several hundred kids some weeks. If anyone in the prefecture is sick, I am.
A bit of an aside, but did you know that elementary boys regularly fondle themselves (with both hands inside their pants) during class? Or is this only an inaka phenomenon?
Posted by: nate at June 24, 2005 8:22 AMMaybe you should invest in a 空気清浄機?
Posted by: Brad at June 25, 2005 10:07 AM