I must admit, I’ve always been a bit of a fan of the “soldier on” with Codral philosophy – the idea that we should all drag our diseased bodies into work and prove our company loyalty and devotion.

But not yesterday morning. Instead, I was soldiering on at home – and then went back to bed.

After battling a throat infection/cold/sneezing/exhaustion for a week, I’ve decided to do what I should have done last week – take a day off.

It must have been that media release from Queensland Health I subconsciously absorbed the other day which urged sick people to do the rest of us a favour and stay home.

It seems almost every third person you meet at the moment is either sick or has just recovered from sickness – and that’s just at your workplace.

I know, it’s that time of year, but it seems to be becoming more widespread and the nature of the sickness more intense.

Perhaps it’s the fact that we try to throw all sorts of drugs and antibiotics at our bodies, rather than just giving them what they really need – a little rest and lots of (non-alcoholic) fluids.

Sunday night, I had cloves of garlic sprinkled on nachos after listening to my dad rave about this Russian variety which helped him combat his cold/flu in the space of a couple of days.

I’m sure the garlic will help – after it stops repeating on me. Another good reason for me to stay home, I’m sure my colleagues will agree.

Even now as I write this, I feel a strange sense of guilt that I am not at work.

There’s something about letting your workmates down, knowing that someone will have to pick up the stuff you don’t get to. The paper still has to come out every day, regardless of who turns up.

Perhaps part of the blame for my guilt is that stupid ad which suggests that if you just take a few Codral Cold and Flu tablets, you will be able to keep going.

The company behind Codral is apparently throwing about $5 million this year at TV and pharmacy counter advertising to perpetuate the myth.

But as one blog site points out, there is no evidence-based research that any over-the-counter cough and cold treatments actually works in shortening the duration of the illness.

They merely mask the symptoms – and fool you into thinking that you will be able to just get on with it.

The danger, of course, is that you mask the very symptoms that are trying to tell you that you really should slow down a little, get some rest, and recover.

Only then are you likely to be of far more use and value to your employer – not to mention keeping your sickness from colleagues.

As my family will tell you, I have an awfully loud sneeze. It’s something I try not to share with the world, but at times, it just erupts. Better to keep that sucker at home in times like this, I can tell you.

The alternative approach, something I foolishly did last year, is to just keep going.

It’s great for keeping the wheels turning at work – but not so when you get pneumonia – as I did – and end up having to take a week off.

So after finishing this column, I’m going to follow some good advice and go back to bed and try to keep my sneezes down to 15 an hour.

Roping the Pope

I’m sure there are a lot of smug journalists in Sydney now rejoicing in the fact that the Pope apologised after running story after story calling for him to do so.

I’m glad the Pope did apologise – and clearly the Catholic Church needs to do a lot more to help the victims of sexual abuse – but I’m saddened for the young people taking part in World Youth Day that the media became a little obsessed with one dimension of the story.

Watching the amazing scenes of 200,000 young people crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge to go to a racetrack for a mass with the Pope was inspiring.

The enthusiasm of our young pilgrims as they sang, hugged, and shared friendships from around the world was a far better story – but one that was really only covered in the last few days of the week long celebrations.

Let’s hope that our young pilgrims return home with a new sense of optimism and faith and a determination to make a real difference in the world they live.