Your Last Ever Cold

GNC

GNC

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Is it true that you will have so many colds and then never have another one once you have built up enough immunity? Or is this a myth?

It's something I occasionally hear repeated but surely if that were true the elderly would never get the sneezles? How many colds would you have to succumb to until that was true, or is it dependent on the sufferer, or is it never true?
 
It is possible to have a prolonged period between colds. I'm inclined to think that the more you get, the more vulnerable you become to the next one. I think there are so many variants we can never have had them all - even if it feels like it some years. :(
 
Dunno, but I've read that the great 'flu outbreak of 1918 affected younger people much more than older ones because younger people had not met with, and become resistant to, viruses similar to the 'flu one.

So in their case, being infected with a as many minor colds as possible might have given them a better chance of survival.

I personally feel that bothersome as colds are, it's better to get them and build up resistance than not.

Although of course you don't actually get a choice in the matter. ;)
 
I work in a library and I'm constantly sneezed and coughed at by the little customers during storytime. I also have the added joy of handling books that suffering customers have handled with their germy paws! Despite this I have not had a serious cold since I started working there nearly three years ago. I always have a flu jab to hopefully ward off that particular flu (I pay for it, as I don't qualify for it on the NHS). I don't spend every minute of the day scrubbing my hands.

However after a visit from my baby nephew and toddler niece last week the whole family has gawn down with a lovely chesty cough bug with the added joy of sickness and the galloping squits! :shock:

There really must be a very virulent strain of something or other that normally lives down in the South of the country and the little petri dishes on legs brought it up North with them, left it with us and then buggered off back down South again! Bless 'em! :roll:
 
escargot1 said:
Dunno, but I've read that the great 'flu outbreak of 1918 affected younger people much more than older ones because younger people had not met with, and become resistant to, viruses similar to the 'flu one.

So in their case, being infected with a as many minor colds as possible might have given them a better chance of survival.

I personally feel that bothersome as colds are, it's better to get them and build up resistance than not.

Although of course you don't actually get a choice in the matter. ;)
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Didn't they say this was the case with swine 'flu or some such?

I teach reception, this is children 4 -5 years old. In the first few years I was teaching I got colds and tonsillitis so badly I was signed off work!
However 5 years in and I don't recall the last proper cold I had. Now I have had a slight cough, the kind of thing you get before a cold takes hold, for about three weeks. But no 'full on' cold.
 
However 5 years in and I don't recall the last proper cold I had. Now I have had a slight cough, the kind of thing you get before a cold takes hold, for about three weeks. But no 'full on' cold.
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We have something that gets called 'freshers flu' here, ie when all the students arive from all over the country/world they bring pretty much every bug going with them, which sucks if you live on the edge of studentland and commute through it.

Usually it's not that severe but just goes on for about 6 weeks or longer as you get low grade bug after low grade bug, and as our dear Mr Whitehead says... I'm sure each one sets you up for the next.

Dunno if you get proper immunity but this year I seem to have got off quite lightly.
 
tillybean1 said:
I work in a library and I'm constantly sneezed and coughed at by the little customers during storytime. I also have the added joy of handling books that suffering customers have handled with their germy paws! Despite this I have not had a serious cold since I started working there nearly three years ago. I always have a flu jab to hopefully ward off that particular flu (I pay for it, as I don't qualify for it on the NHS). I don't spend every minute of the day scrubbing my hands.

However after a visit from my baby nephew and toddler niece last week the whole family has gawn down with a lovely chesty cough bug with the added joy of sickness and the galloping squits! :shock:

There really must be a very virulent strain of something or other that normally lives down in the South of the country and the little petri dishes on legs brought it up North with them, left it with us and then buggered off back down South again! Bless 'em! :roll:
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This is interesting because a friend of mine who runs a daycare center recently came down with something that landed her in hospital for a few days. Six weeks later, she was still coughing a bit. But no other adult she had contact with during the incubation period caught anything. I wonder whether something about being exposed to all those children's colds made her vunerable.
 
A minor infection which most people would shrug off can develop into something quite serious if the person's health is already poor or if they are stressed or exhausted.

For example, pneumonia can kill an adult in a couple of days if they don't get treatment quickly enough. This happened to both the actress Brittany Murphy and her husband, who both died of pneumonia within 6 months of each other. (The family suspected that mould in their home caused it, but tests showed no evidence of that.) Their health was poor before they were taken ill.

Urk, the cold with the galloping squits! Had a bit of that recently. Reckon I caught it at work. Being of robust health I soon recovered.
 
escargot1 said:
A minor infection which most people would shrug off can develop into something quite serious if the person's health is already poor or if they are stressed or exhausted.
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That was the weird part of my friend catching whatever it was: she's really healthy and almost always in good spirits. Even her doctor was amazed since he considers her to be one of his healthiest patients.

I'm just glad it didn't spread, and I feel for anyone who got any part of that.
 
It's beginning to sound as if the cold immunity story is a myth after all, there are too many personal factors to take into account.
 
liveinabin1 said:
escargot1 said:
Dunno, but I've read that the great 'flu outbreak of 1918 affected younger people much more than older ones because younger people had not met with, and become resistant to, viruses similar to the 'flu one.

So in their case, being infected with a as many minor colds as possible might have given them a better chance of survival.

I personally feel that bothersome as colds are, it's better to get them and build up resistance than not.

Although of course you don't actually get a choice in the matter. ;)
Click to expand...

Didn't they say this was the case with swine 'flu or some such?

I teach reception, this is children 4 -5 years old. In the first few years I was teaching I got colds and tonsillitis so badly I was signed off work!
However 5 years in and I don't recall the last proper cold I had. Now I have had a slight cough, the kind of thing you get before a cold takes hold, for about three weeks. But no 'full on' cold.
Click to expand...

Of course about half an hour after I posted that it developed into a full cold.
 
Quoting myself'ere, from 2013 -
escargot said:
A minor infection which most people would shrug off can develop into something quite serious if the person's health is already poor or if they are stressed or exhausted.

For example, pneumonia can kill an adult in a couple of days if they don't get treatment quickly enough. This happened to both the actress Brittany Murphy and her husband, who both died of pneumonia within 6 months of each other. (The family suspected that mould in their home caused it, but tests showed no evidence of that.) Their health was poor before they were taken ill.
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A couple of years later, overworked and stressed, I found myself in hospital with pneumonia. Even though I knew about pneumonia and how it develops and kills people I hadn't spotted it.
If I'd been living alone, without Techy to insist on getting help, I'd've been much worse or dead. :omg:
 
At least five years I'd say.
Plenty of other ailments in the meantime though.
 
At the risk of jinxing myself I don't think I've had a "proper" cold since the covid outbreak started. AFAIK I've not had covid or too mild to notice if I did.
Whether the vaccines have stopped some colds or whether I've been taking more care over hand washing, etc. I'm not sure.
 
I don't remember the last time I had a cold. Years ago!
My brother in law seems to catch one every other week.
 
GNC said:
Is it true that you will have so many colds and then never have another one once you have built up enough immunity? Or is this a myth?

It's something I occasionally hear repeated but surely if that were true the elderly would never get the sneezles? How many colds would you have to succumb to until that was true, or is it dependent on the sufferer, or is it never true?
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No, it's never true.

Rhinoviruses and their ilk that cause colds and cold/flu-like symptoms (coronaviruses, adenoviruses, metapneumaviruses et al.,) are very handy at mutating and producing new variants.

It's true that we catch more colds when we are young, as we have much less immunity from infections with similar viruses, and when our immune system is adversely affected by illness, disease, medicines etc., We are also likely to catch a cold when out of our normal grouping - eg., on a plane, train, mixing with people we don't see often, little children who go to nursery/primary school.

We benefit from frequent exposure to these viruses if otherwise healthy, and many times we don't develop symptoms if the virus is very similar to one we've recently had. However, the immunity wanes after weeks or months. Since we in the UK have been getting back to 'normal' social contact and travelling (late 2022) I have caught cold after cold, about 4 in six months! Now blissfully snot and cough-free since May :)
 
From what I have read, touch is the number one way viruses are spread.

You may touch an infected surface or someone’s infected skin.

A sick person sneezing around you is bad also because of sneezing droplets in the air.
 
charliebrown said:
From what I have read, touch is the number one way viruses are spread.

You may touch an infected surface or someone’s infected skin.

A sick person sneezing around you is bad also because of sneezing droplets in the air.
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Can't really avoid the spread of viruses these day's ~ jumping on a bus and sneezing murmurs from somewhere down the front, or anywhere else in a public area etc.
I've got something right now (with others I know who have the same/similar symptoms), worst symptom seems to be big lack of energy - with a sudden runny nose which switches on and off, and heavy headaches which have now departed which suggests it's on the way out - just before I get my next jab (Number 5)!
 
GNC said:
Is it true that you will have so many colds and then never have another one once you have built up enough immunity? Or is this a myth?

It's something I occasionally hear repeated but surely if that were true the elderly would never get the sneezles? How many colds would you have to succumb to until that was true, or is it dependent on the sufferer, or is it never true?
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No dr - but immunity for many cold viruses is only temporary so that's not likely to be possible.

Dunno if drs and nurses and other people constantly exposed at. work to a germ-ridden population, find this but I know when I was teaching, the job was notorious for new teachers catching everything going from the kids for the first few months in the job, then less so. Wouldn't have no colds after the first 6 months - year - just less colds.

ETA: Quite proud I never got nits off the kids.
 
I never knew my late father to ever have a cold whilst the rest of us coughed and sneezed, he had plenty of other health conditions especially towards the end of his life, but he never suffered from a cold or flue
 
About 20 years ago (aged 30 ish) used to get bad colds, I would lie in bet at night with my nose fully blocked up and it was very unpleasant.

These days I never get the blocked up nose, maybe the headache and sore throat but all colds are so much milder.
 
ChrisBoardman said:
About 20 years ago (aged 30 ish) used to get bad colds, I would lie in bet at night with my nose fully blocked up and it was very unpleasant.

These days I never get the blocked up nose, maybe the headache and sore throat but all colds are so much milder.
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This is exactly what I experience. I used to get really bad colds, fever, bunged up, miserable for days but now I just get a runny nose and sometimes a scratchy throat, but I haven't had to use decongestant at night for years. (I can't sleep with a bunged up nose, so I'd have to use a nose spray to clear my nose for the worst couple of nights). But then, since I started working in the shop I refuse to eat or touch my face until I've washed my hands, because customers are filthy things. The two seem to coincide (working in the shop with much hand washing and getting fewer and less severe colds) but then before I worked in the shop I worked in a school with all the germs concommitant with that.
 
I, too, find that when I work with my regular coworkers, I tend to not catch a cold, or very slight symptoms. However, if there is someone new thrown into the work group, I usually catch something. Back to school time even affects me as some coworkers have kids and bring in the germs they've caught from them.

During the pandemic, I had no colds except one which was two years in. It occurred when the kids were sent back to in person schooling and two coworkers came in sick.

At that time, it was the worst one I'd had in many years. I believe it is because we were not exposed to much of anything during that time due to isolation and mask wearing.

I used to have colds that really congested my sinuses. I wouldn't be able to sleep because I couldn't breathe. I started to do saline nasal rinses any time that I had a tickly feeling in my sinus (always the left side). I don't know if I had a piece of fluff, or what, in there, but since, my sinuses don't get really congested.

I may get one or two colds yearly, but rarely more.
 
ChrisBoardman said:
About 20 years ago (aged 30 ish) used to get bad colds, I would lie in bet at night with my nose fully blocked up and it was very unpleasant.

These days I never get the blocked up nose, maybe the headache and sore throat but all colds are so much milder.
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"Same here."
 
Viruses are a strand of DNA or RNA covered in a protein coat.

Some scientists think viruses are alien invaders from another world since they are not a living entity.

From what I read, a person touches an infected surface and then touches their face or nose.

This is how most most viruses are spread.

In your body the virus becomes alive throwing off its protein coat and taking over your cells, with only your antibodies to try to stop the invader.
 
charliebrown said:
Viruses are a strand of DNA or RNA covered in a protein coat.

Some scientists think viruses are alien invaders from another world since they are not a living entity.

From what I read, a person touches an infected surface and then touches their face or nose.

This is how most most viruses are spread.

In your body the virus becomes alive throwing off its protein coat and taking over your cells, with only your antibodies to try to stop the invader.
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Like a drone passing on to form another drone?
 
I guess so Sid.

Once a virus invades the body, the clock starts ticking like H.G.Wells “ The War of the Worlds “.

Your body only has so much time to figure out how to make an antibody to the invading virus.

Antibiotics are useless.
 
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