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Stupid summer cold

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  • 17-07-2013 2:21pm
    #1
    El_Dangeroso
    Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 5,620 ✭✭✭


    In arguably the nicest period of weather for the past decade, I have succumbed to a cold complete with sore throat and congested sinuses.

    I don't know anyone else who is sick right now so where did this thing come from? Does anyone else know people who are sick? I've been out in the sunshine non-stop for the past week so not even cooped up with others. None of my work colleagues are ill.

    Not looking for medical advice, just reassurance that I am not the only person in the entire country with the sniffles right now.


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    #2
    Tree
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 4,689 Mod ✭✭✭✭Tree


    There's something doing the rounds in work. Even not being locked in a room with people, it's hard to avoid them and their icky diseases.
    We need some control hermits, who order food delivered and wiped with alcohol wipes before they touch it...


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    #3
    April O Neill
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,305 ✭✭✭April O Neill


    Colds can happen at any time. AFAIK, they don't have much to do with cold weather.


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    #4
    El_Dangeroso
    Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 5,620 ✭✭✭El_Dangeroso


    April O Neill wrote: »
    Colds can happen at any time. AFAIK, they don't have much to do with cold weather.

    They happen more often in autumn and winter time though, there's no disputing that, so it would appear some characteristic of winter encourages the prevalence of colds.


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    #5
    JuliusCaesar
    Registered Users Posts: 4,882 ✭✭✭JuliusCaesar


    El_Dangeroso wrote: »
    They happen more often in autumn and winter time though, there's no disputing that, so it would appear some characteristic of winter encourages the prevalence of colds.

    People crowding together indoors, in often humid conditions? Rather than out and about, or windows wide open, warm and dry?


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    #6
    El_Dangeroso
    Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 5,620 ✭✭✭El_Dangeroso


    JuliusCaesar wrote: »
    People crowding together indoors, in often humid conditions? Rather than out and about, or windows wide open, warm and dry?

    Some cold strains survive better in low humidity so you could be on to something there. Don't think humidity or even human contact is wholly sufficient to explain the disparity though.

    Cold weather dries out nasal passages which would make them more susceptible to infection also..

    None of this helps me however.. sniff.

    Edited to add: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/997/why-is-winter-the-season-for-colds-flu-etc

    This article is interesting, especially the point about physiological stress in winter.. bottom line is I think no one knows.


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    #7
    HeidiHeidi
    Registered Users Posts: 28,930 ✭✭✭✭HeidiHeidi


    I'm just emerging the other end of a three-week horror of a cold, exactly as you described.

    I reckon I can thank Ryanair for it though... it started about two days after a 3.5 hour flight. But I can tell you that feeling that sick in 30+ degrees while on a very active holiday was No Fun.

    All the heat, and dry weather, and sea swimming (salty water has magical properties, no?) and even alcohol (surely has some therapeutic effect???) wouldn't shift it, and it lasted almost a full two weeks after I got home.

    Never again (hopefully).

    You have my sympathies, OP :mad:


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    #8
    April O Neill
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,305 ✭✭✭April O Neill


    El_Dangeroso wrote: »
    They happen more often in autumn and winter time though, there's no disputing that, so it would appear some characteristic of winter encourages the prevalence of colds.

    It's likely because of people being in closer proximity, rather than the weather conditions. But they can still occur at any time of the year.
    El_Dangeroso wrote: »
    Cold weather dries out nasal passages which would make them more susceptible to infection also.

    I would have thought less dampness would mean less infections. Not sure about viruses, but bacteria loooove their water. Helps with motility, both for flagellate and non-motile bacteria, the non-motile bacteria using Brownian motion.

    And my poor feet know all about how much bacteria love humid, damper conditions, the result being athlete's foot. :-/

    The common cold is a still a bit of a mystery, but it's not usually life-threatening so nobody seems arsed putting any research into it.


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    #9
    El_Dangeroso
    Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 5,620 ✭✭✭El_Dangeroso


    April O Neill wrote: »
    The common cold is a still a bit of a mystery, but it's not usually life-threatening so nobody seems arsed putting any research into it.

    Au contraire, there's the Cardiff University centre for common cold research! :)


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    #10
    April O Neill
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,305 ✭✭✭April O Neill


    El_Dangeroso wrote: »
    Au contraire, there's the Cardiff University centre for common cold research! :)

    Well, that's good! Because it does need to be researched, as I'd imagine it costs a lot in worker efficiency every year.

    And I was wrong, apparently viruses like the dried out nasal passages. I guess the surface would be more damaged or something, providing an entry point.


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    #11
    0lddog
    Registered Users Posts: 3,292 ✭✭✭0lddog


    El_Dangeroso wrote: »
    Au contraire, there's the Cardiff University centre for common cold research! :)

    Theres an establishment thats not to be sneezed at


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    #12
    locum-motion
    Registered Users Posts: 5,143 ✭✭✭locum-motion


    April O Neill wrote: »
    ...
    And my poor feet know all about how much bacteria love humid, damper conditions, the result being athlete's foot...
    (My emphasis added)



    That's fungus, not bacteria!


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    #13
    April O Neill
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,305 ✭✭✭April O Neill


    locum-motion wrote: »
    (My emphasis added)



    That's fungus, not bacteria!

    Aye, tis, but what I said still stands for bacteria too. Though dry nasal passages would provide entry points too.


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    #14
    El_Dangeroso
    Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 5,620 ✭✭✭El_Dangeroso


    April O Neill wrote: »
    Well, that's good! Because it does need to be researched, as I'd imagine it costs a lot in worker efficiency every year.

    And I was wrong, apparently viruses like the dried out nasal passages. I guess the surface would be more damaged or something, providing an entry point.

    Don't forget that mucus is highly effective against infection also:

    http://www.biospectrumasia.com/biospectrum/news/188971/viruses-mucus-protects-infections


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