Just Say No to Con Crud.

This was originally going to be part of my other megacon post, but it spiraled into its own thing WAY too fast, and detracted from the original point I was trying to make there. So, it’s its own post now. These complaints and frustrations are by no means exclusive to furcons - any convention, especially large ones, are just as big of a concern here - but furcons are what I hear the most about because, well, I’m a furry. Who follows other furries on Bluesky and the Fediverse. And talks to other furries on those platforms and on Telegram and Discord and Signal.

So don’t come at me with “well this isn’t a problem at (insert convention here)!” or whatever. This isn’t about specific conventions, this is about a general trend I - and many others - have noticed.

Superspreader events at conventions

Now that we’re “through” the pandemic that is COVID-19 (we aren’t, but I digress), a lot of folks have gotten lax about public health measures to keep themselves - and others - safe. Even stuff as basic as not going to a con at all when you’re sick, which includes physically going to the venue somehow, not just going to the con floor, seems like it’s being forgotten. Folks aren’t masking up when they’re sick in general. And when you shove a bunch of people into one collective space who don’t take the easiest of precatuions, you’re primed to have something nasty break out because of one event.

Con crud is, to some extent, normal. People get colds, maybe their stomachs feel off for a few days after, that all is mildly expected. Colds are common though never pleasant, and at a convention you’re likely not eating the same diet as normal, so your gut microbiome is fucked up and complaining like crazy. Personally, I consider those general symptoms - some mild sniffles and a weird gut - as expected. Though of course, they’re largely preventable with some effort and planning, but you can never guarantee it’ll not happen to you. The reality where you’ll never get seriously ill from a convention is simply a fairy tale.

_{(I have no idea why people think they’re above getting sick.)}

It could be norovirus, a nasty stomach bug that can fuck people up for days on end.

It could be influenza, which has had strains that are particularly nasty with vaccines doing their best to keep them under control. Or perhaps the current round of avian flu, which is even nastier than the influenze we deal with year-round and - as far as I’m aware - is not currently guarded by vaccines beyond “it’s close enough to the influenza strains we normally target.” It’s particularly fatal as well, so it’s even more important to take it seriously.

Hell, it can be COVID-19. Do y’all remember how public health officials like the WHO and CDC were listing a gigantic range of symptoms, from respiratory to stomach, cardiovascular to neurological? That’s because the virus that causes COVID-19, at least back then, attached to a receptor that our bodies use fucking everywhere. And while we have vaccines now, the vaccine does not make you immune, contrary to what I imagine some of y’all thought up until this very moment. There are very, VERY few vaccines in general that make someone completely immune to a disease. All that the COVID-19 vaccines promise is to reduce the severity.

Please take precautions

A lot of people would love to go to a convention, even one as “small” as Anthro New England or Furlandia, to meet up with a ton of folks. But many people don’t take the appropriate precautions. People aren’t doing what they can to help protect those who want to go, but can’t out of their own safety - doesn’t matter what illness they’re particularly afraid of, or if any illness will fuck them up. I cannot speak on the situation of others, but I can speak for myself, because I’m outright terrified of getting COVID-19 ever again.

My time with Miss Rona, aka COVID-19

Because I’ve already had it twice. And the first time probably fucked me up for life, by messing with my brain enough to where I probably have a seizure disorder now. A week after I first displayed symptoms back in May of 2023, I had my first ever pair of seizures. The first one led to a dislocated left shoulder, alongside a broken bone by the shoulder. The second in the pair dislocated my right shoulder. And while I don’t have solid evidence that my second ever pair of seizures - in October of 2023 - was caused by me getting the latest COVID-19 vaccine at the time, it was a little too convenient that I had my second pair of seizures - the first of which dislocated my right shoulder again, and the second resulted in a forceful relocation via falling onto it - mere days after getting that year’s vaccine.

And so, as far as I’m concerned, I’m at greater risk for COVID-19. Because I’m scared of getting the updated vaccine each year, and rolling the dice that I won’t have seizures because of something that COVID-19 does to my brain. I didn’t get it in 2024, and I probably won’t get it this year either - not because I don’t want to, but because I genuinely think it puts me at a risk that I don’t want to take. Especially when every single seizure I have ever had, including one I had literally three weeks ago that dislocated my right shoulder FOR THE THIRD GODDAMN TIME, has seriously injured me in some way. While I didn’t have a seizure when I had COVID-19 yet again at the start of March 2025, I can likely attribute that to the high as hell doses of anti-convulsants that I take to prevent seizures from even thinking of happening.

My seizure a few weeks ago was set up by me not taking my medications because I oops, ran out and didn’t refill in time, so at least I know they’re working? But that just reaffirms that I have a seizure disorder. One that was probably set in motion by COVID-19, and may or may not be getting worse each subsequent time I get COVID-19… or even experience anything similar to it.

Did I need to share all of that? Probably not, but I really just want to lock in that people who aren’t taking public health seriously at conventions - both the attendees and the folks running them - lead to folks who either put themselves at great risk if they attend, or simply can’t even dream of attending because nobody is doing their part to make it remotely safe for them.

I am not alone in this concern.

It doesn’t even have to be COVID-19. It can be norovirus, it can be the flu, it can be a particularly nasty cold, it could be a stomach bug, it could be some novel virus nobody has heard of and now conservatives are calling it something stupid because it happened at some nerd convention. All that matters is that, so long that people don’t protect themselves at conventions, both at the event as well as travelling to and from the con, it makes it harder for folks like me to feel safe.

There’s a con near me that kicks off every Memorial Day weekend, and I really wanted to go this year (despite financial problems) - even for just a day - but I’m concerned for my health because I don’t know how seriously folks take shit like masking up. Not just for COVID, but for so many other illnesses. And I’m in the camp where I can at least think about going to a con, so long that I take every precaution possible. Many others are not in the position I’m in. Many others can’t go because if they get sick, there’s a strong change they’ll be hospitalized.

I may end up being one of those people one day, if I roll a seven on the cosmic dice of my health and I get diagnosed with the same autoimmune disorder my mother has. Which is somewhat likely given that I might also have EDS, which is a potential indicator of rheumatoid arthritis down the line. I hopefully won’t develop RA, but who knows.

So, in the meantime… I, alongside many others, beg of everyone who goes to conventions:

Please take health - your own and of others - seriously.

This shit is serious. We’re in a time where the political support for public health is declining, as we have conservatives in power who think some types of vaccines should be outlawed, that fluoride should be removed from water supplies, that funding and backing programs like Medicaid is a waste of money. We shouldn’t be doing the work of conservatives for them by giving up on what measures we personally can take.

Everyone needs to be doing what little they can, even if it’s just at conventions. Mask up with at least a proper N95 or equivalent from a reputable source. Make sure it’s sealed properly. Don’t go at all if you’re sick - even if you just stay in your hotel room the entire time to protect other attendees, you’re putting others who are travelling alongside you at risk, too. Yes, not going probably means losing money from non-refundable travel fees, but you not getting horribly ill far away from home alongside risking the health of others is, in my opinion, worth that loss.

(This is also why you should try to have a backup plan in place if something does happen. Yes refundable flights or train tickets are more expensive, but you’ll at least get some money back if shit does hit the fan before you leave.)

Every immunocompromised person - or those at risk of becoming immunocompromised - is begging y’all to take things seriously.

I want to feel like I can safely go to conventions, too. A lot of people want that. But we see y’all not doing the bare minimum, and so we have to choose between taking a gamble on our health, or just not going and missing out on seeing folks in-person.

So please, please do what you can to protect us, too.