You woke up feeling lousy with a headache and sore throat, but you’re worried about missing work and leaving your boss short-handed. Should you stay home or drag yourself in?

“The first thing to consider is that an ounce of prevention benefits both you and your coworkers,” says Joseph Stubbs, M.D., F.A.C.P, president of the American College of Physicians. “Staying home and resting helps your immune system fight the infection so it may not escalate into something worse, making you miss even more days. And you do your coworkers a disservice if you’re coughing and sneezing all over them.”

With threats of swine flu (the new H1N1) in addition to regular cold and flu season ahead, experts say this is the year to stay home if you aren’t sure if you’re “sick enough” to miss work. “If you are in doubt, then you need to stay home,” says Sandra Adamson Fryhofer, M.D., M.A.C.P., F.R.C.P., associate professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. “What starts out as a mild sore throat in the morning may very well end up being a full-blown case of flu by the afternoon.”