Cold after cold after cold

I have something new brewing this morning after thinking I was better....this article doesn't surprise me.

Sorry if It sound smug and it serves me right if I get one now but I haven't had a cold for over 30 years and neither has my husband. I do t know why.

don't

Kate you sound very fortunate. However what a shock to the system when it does sneak through.

dogsmother. Yes I'm hourly expecting one! We both have several other problems so it's just this one where we're lucky.

I said on a post a few days ago that mask wearing and social distancing has caused all of this, people's immunity is ruined

I don't think immunity is ruined but will pick up as socialisation returns. We had the bad colds over Christmas and it took DH (77 and vulnerable due t not having a spleen) longer to get rid of dry cough but he's back to normal now - well normal for him.

I can't remember the last time I had a cold, but I have a permanent runny nose because I'm allergic to my pet birds. I did get Covid though, but only the mild variant.
My father suffered with hay fever, but never caught any viruses even when the rest of the family were ill.

Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that covid has been allowed to pass around the population unchecked, having been downgraded in the popular mind to just another flu like illness regardless of the fact that the virus attacks the body in ways totally unlike flu. One of its effects is to weaken the immune system, making people mor vulnerable to any infectious illness.

Add to this the fact that people are unprepared to take simple mitigation actions to avoid infecting others, the British Way being to generously spread our viral and bacterial infections as widely as possible, by continuing to work and socialise when infectious, then it's not surprising that colds, flu and covid are merrily doing the rounds.

Biscuitmuncher

I said on a post a few days ago that mask wearing and social distancing has caused all of this, people's immunity is ruined

I tend to agree, Biscuit. Or at least compromised if not ruined. As for it "not being clear" to the prof who was quoted why infections are lasting longer, well.... 🙄🧐.... I think it's quite likely that there is evidence that locking people up away from others has something to do with it.

PS Hope you feel better soon, maw. Winter bugs can be right buggers.

I can't remember ever having a cold and certainly never had flu. I don't do anything special.

Well this is good to know. DH has had a cold and a cough since 2nd December. He is still coughing. He went to the walk-in centre for a covid test just after Christmas but it was negative. The Doctor there told him to come back in 8 weeks if he was still coughing. I do hope he's better by the end of this month, and doesn't still have his cough at the end of February.

Since Christmas I keep feeling as if a cold is coming but then it goes away again. So far I'm winning..... but.......

MaizieD

Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that covid has been allowed to pass around the population unchecked, having been downgraded in the popular mind to just another flu like illness regardless of the fact that the virus attacks the body in ways totally unlike flu. One of its effects is to weaken the immune system, making people mor vulnerable to any infectious illness.

Add to this the fact that people are unprepared to take simple mitigation actions to avoid infecting others, the British Way being to generously spread our viral and bacterial infections as widely as possible, by continuing to work and socialise when infectious, then it's not surprising that colds, flu and covid are merrily doing the rounds.

Yes, I have read that this is the case with covid

Sounds very plausible Maizie- we were over-protected from 'normal' viruses during Covid and paying the price now.

The public health experts have been predicting a bad flu season for a few years now, and it hit Australia hard this time, where most of the country had not had anything like the level of lockdowns we had in the UK, so it was going to be the same here regardless of Covid.
It’s true according to the experts that the cold, respiratory and other viruses and transmissible infections have been biding their time and are attacking people harder due to the lack of contact with others though, very young children seem to have been hit particularly hard this winter.
I’m very lucky to have escaped everything, including Covid so far, and I’m dreading coming down with anything now because I’m expecting a really bad dose to pay me back for being so fortunate to date.

Time to take more rest , fortify yourself with extra vitamins and a healthy diet .

Take care and get well soon .

Kate1949

Sorry if It sound smug and it serves me right if I get one now but I haven't had a cold for over 30 years and neither has my husband. I do t know why.

I'm the same Kate1949 maybe 20 years not 30 though. Not had COVID or this coughing bug. We have had all the COVID/flu/pnemonia jabs. I think part of it is we aren't in close contact with any babies or children, where a lot of infections seem to start. We have been to theatres, parties, flown on planes but for whatever reason the germs etc have left us alone. I do realise when it does hit us then POW! But until then we shall carry on our smug way! My friends all seem to have had COVID at least twice and the joke is they are having it so we don't have to!

I don't know what it is notgran. We visit our local pub, have been to the theatre, cinema etc. We met up with a lot of family at Christmas.
About 8 years ago, I volunteered in a primary school and was mixing with 5 and 6 year olds. Still no bugs caught.
I have had COVID but thankfully not too badly. We drink a fair amount of wine. My husband says we are pickled!

In 30 years of teaching I rarely fell ill -apart from one bout of shingles and one of laryngitis (I wonder why?)
So I do think one's immunity builds up over the years and perhaps drops off even quicker but as for being cavalier about mixing when under the weather? I think Covid taught us not to do that and people seem generally more considerate of others- not mixing etc- when coughing or sneezing.
No I think its back to square one with the immune system and, like toddlers, putting up with a permanent cough or sniffle

Sweden, which didn't impose Covid lockdowns, is also experiencing spikes in viruses such as influenza and RSV.

I used to get every bug going when my own dc were small but so far I’ve been more ‘fireproofed’ to my GC’s various germs and bugs. Maybe all the previous years of illnesses have given me some resistance. Hope I’m not tempting fate here! 👀 I started with a very painful, one-sided throat, neck and ear thing yesterday but today I suspect it’s just an ulcerated throat that I get from time to time.

I’m reading a gruesome but fascinating book at the moment, The Plague Cycle by Charles Kenny. It looks at the relationship between ‘civilisation, globalization, prosperity, and infectious disease’ and is utterly spell binding. I’d really recommend it if you want to understand more about infectious diseases and how and why they spread.

There may well be a genetic component to whether people become ill, according to the book. Certainly my father and my brother seem(ed) immune to everything. I don’t recall my dad ever having a cold and during his final brief illness his GP notes comprised about six pages to cover 91years in total. Of childhood diseases, my brother has only ever had rubella and he is never ill, even when everyone in his family has been laid low by bugs.

I hope everyone who is ill gets well soon and those who are healthy now stay healthy!

I've been plugging my body with vitamin D - extra because of the winter months, zink 30mg and 2000 mg C (but at 1000mg twice a day so as not to overload my tum too much but so far it's not caused problems). And so far no colds since 2019!

Hope you feel better soon.