Does the idea of "work ethic" need an update?

I recently had class with a professor who was quite ill but still came to teach, and he was very proud of it. The prof continually referred to how he was sick and yet he still came here, so we never had an excuse to miss class, et cetera. He said that's the problem with people these days, "no work ethic". While I don't disagree that a lot of people nowadays are sadly lacking in the ability to work hard, I have a problem with equating work ethic with potentially spreading infectious diseases.

He coughed continually, sneezed no less than ten times, and generally made me worry about if he was contagious. In general, I'm not one to worry too much about such things. However, throughout the recent years we've had plenty of epidemic scares. Mad Cow, SARS, bird flu, and most recently the swine flu. There has been a massive campaign of public awareness. In major urban centers all around the world, they have pamphlets encouraging everyone to stay home if they have symptoms, to not risk spreading infection.

There's a fun flash game called pandemic, (now in its second iteration,) in which the player takes on the role of a contagion which tries to exterminate the human race. A morbid affair, yet quite fun.

Now, perhaps it's because I'm in the country-side now, but it definitely doesn't appear that local culture (and in particular the idea of a "strong work ethic" meaning you come to work even if you're sick) has caught up to our understanding of illness and how we can prevent spreading our infections to others.

Even on my small campus in the middle of nowhere, we have signs posted all over the place warning us to wash our hands and stay in our rooms if we have any symptoms. Yet the reality is it is a rare professor will understand if you err on the side of caution, a precious few bosses who want their sick employees to sacrifice productivity. Our culture still considers it a virtue, rather than a vice, to ignore our accumulated knowledge and government posted guidelines.

Back around 1918, the world faced a huge epidemic that killed many millions of people. (It's believed to have been H1N1, the same as our currently infamous swine flu.) Although exact numbers vary, there is agreement that the flu claimed many more lives than the entirety of World War I.

I think it might just be time to update our concept of a "strong work ethic", combining the sentiment of a dedicated worker with the common sense of a 21st century citizen.

"I'm sick, and yet I'm still here."

Yes, I can see that. Thank you for the potential illness, jackass.