Cold after cold after cold

I used to get bad colds, one after another, all winter every winter. For 30 years I had colds which lasted weeks. They got worse when my grandchildren started nursery but stopped abruptly when I retired from working in a school.
In the last 10 years I’ve had very few colds, none of them bad ones. I haven’t had Covid at all.

It may not make sense, but that is how it works.

I have just fast read several articles that explain how it works and I think this is the best.
www.biomerieux.com/corp/en/blog/infectious-diseases/how-our-immune-system-works-to-fight-viruses.html

The best analogy I can think of is the goal keeper in a football team. he is going to better at his job if he is playing football matches and saving goals regularly compared witha goalie who hasn't played a match or practiced for a year or so.

Kate1949, IMO some people’s immune systems are just that much better than others - it must surely be genetic.

My dd2 gets a lot of colds and when we all caught COVID, just after Christmas 2021, she had it worse than anyone else. But her partner never catches anything - including the serious bug she caught on a plane to S. Africa shortly before COVID was a recognised thing.

Her bloke was with her (cricket fan, barmy army) - dd spent virtually the entire 12 days in bed in their hotel room and felt rough for some weeks afterwards - he was fine throughout.

In hindsight we are pretty sure she’d caught COVID on that plane, from someone coughing non stop, but it was in the January, before the world had really woken up to Covid.

MayBee70

You’d need to check out the ZOE App podcasts. I’ll try to work out which episode of Know Your S**t refers to it. And I’ll try to do a link to the ZOE App podcast (but I can only do that on my upstairs computer). I was also chatting to someone the other day that explained to me how using a microwave affects the molecular make up of the food that we eat.

I do follow some of the ZOE podcasts and I'm familiar with the work on the gut biome, but I still don't see how immunity to bacteria can affect immunity to viruses. (Maybe I'm just being thick).

How does exposure to viruses stop people being infected with viruses? It doesn't make sense.

What has almost certainly happened is that there's been a time shift. People are catching the viruses now that they would otherwise have caught over the last couple of years. People are noticing them more because they've come at once - and people can be infected with more than one virus at the same time.

As I mentioned above, there is also some evidence (not proven yet) that Covid can affect the immune response to other viruses. It could be the case with other viruses too. If that's the case, the trick is to try and not be infected in the first place. It's known that Covid affects most of our vital organs (sometimes permanently), so it's a particularly nasty virus.

You’d need to check out the ZOE App podcasts. I’ll try to work out which episode of Know Your S**t refers to it. And I’ll try to do a link to the ZOE App podcast (but I can only do that on my upstairs computer). I was also chatting to someone the other day that explained to me how using a microwave affects the molecular make up of the food that we eat.

Usernametaken

The flu didn't disappear it was just re named. Peoples immune systems have been compromised by being locked away, being told not to mix, mixing with people and not being locked away is what keeps your natural immune systems working. The only people I know that are continually ill are the ones jabbed up to the hilt. My husband had a conversation with a good friend who said he was worried about him because he hadn't been jabbed, this friend is jabbed 5 times he was ill in bed for over 2 weeks with 'convid', and now his wife is very ill. My husbands answer was I'd worry about you and your wife rather than me.

Well, I'm "jabbed up to the hilt" and haven't had a cold or flu for years. I didn't break any of the lockdown rules either and am mixing more or less normally now.

How do I fit your theory Userrnametaken?

How do bacteria affect immunity to viruses? Genuinely interested.

I watched a new series in Ch4 last night called Know Your S**t. I know that sounds gross but, as someone that has had bladder and bowel problems for as long as I can remember(which has affected my life in so many ways) I was hoping that they might feature someone with similar problems. Anyway, they pointed out that not mixing with people affects our gut biome: they said that even shaking hands with someone introduces new bacteria into our digestive system. A lot of our immunity comes from our gut. From that I understood that not mixing with people hasn’t just stopped us being exposed to other viruses but has changed the diversity in our gut biome. They are trying to find out how much this influences how likely we are to suffer from long covid. Of course, Tim Spector (who was featured in the programme) has been studying this for ages in the ZOE App. I do take probiotics and prebiotics but don’t eat or drink things like kefir and sambuca (sp).

The flu didn't disappear it was just re named. Peoples immune systems have been compromised by being locked away, being told not to mix, mixing with people and not being locked away is what keeps your natural immune systems working. The only people I know that are continually ill are the ones jabbed up to the hilt. My husband had a conversation with a good friend who said he was worried about him because he hadn't been jabbed, this friend is jabbed 5 times he was ill in bed for over 2 weeks with 'convid', and now his wife is very ill. My husbands answer was I'd worry about you and your wife rather than me.

Kate1949 it’s been the same for me although not 30 years- more like five, since a “proper” cold. Even Covid wasn’t all that bad for me.
I’m very grateful for this.

It does seem that Vitamin D can make a big difference. There is a lot of information about this on YouTube. Vitamins can vary in quality so make sure to buy a good one such as those found in health food shops.

Reduce social contact, eat well, take vit C and paracetamol.

Casdon

That’s interesting, I’d be interested to see more when available.

Addenbrooke's/CUH is currently researching the long-lasting immune response to Covid. They're mainly looking at Long Covid, but more generally how immunity reacts to other viruses. I know one of the researchers, but they're not in a position for peer review yet.

More anecdotal evidence ...

As far as I know, I haven't had Covid. Since last summer, I've been going about more or less normally, although I have worn a mask for hospital appointments and occasionally in crowded spaces such as trains.

I take Vitamin D supplements for my bones, but don't take anything else and just eat my normal low carb diet.

I haven't had any coughs or colds for years, since I left teaching, when I could have guaranteed that I'd catch some nasty bug every year.

My partner caught Covid from his son, who had been to a family wedding, where everybody was mingling and about half the guests were infected. His son seems to have had a permanent cold ever since.

I haven't been ill since Christmas which feels like a long time when it's not even a month... before Christmas I was ill with cold after cold for about 3 months

Again, anecdotal evidence, I had COVID 4 months ago and I have been completely clear of any kind of infection since, as have DH and DD who had COVID at the same time from the same source.

That’s interesting, I’d be interested to see more when available.

It would appear from some ongoing research that being infected with Covid damages immunity to other infections.. I'm not sure that anything has been peer-reviewed yet, but if I find anything, I'll post the link.

growstuff

MOnica The point is that there seems to be a spike in various viruses across the whole of northern Europe. People's exposure over the last couple of years would appear not to be relevant.

The immune system is incredibly complicated. There is emerging evidence that Covid has affected it.

What do you mean by ‘Covid has affected it’ growstuff - that having Covid has a direct impact on your immune system’s ability to fight other viruses, or that the enforced separation from others during the pandemic has reduced peoples immunity?

MOnica The point is that there seems to be a spike in various viruses across the whole of northern Europe. People's exposure over the last couple of years would appear not to be relevant.

The immune system is incredibly complicated. There is emerging evidence that Covid has affected it.

As TwinLolly said, Vitamin D plus zinc, Vitamin C and also magnesium may help.

But sudden sneezing, a stuffy nose and morning cough for a few minutes all seem to be a normal part of life since I caught the Lurgy that wasn't Covid 3 years ago.

growstuff Sweden didn't have a lockdown but there was a lot of purely voluntary social distancing - plus it is a thinly populated country.

Biscuitmuncher, for once I agree - except immunity has not been destroyed . Once people get out and about more and build their immunity up again by coming up against more infectious agents, it will build back up again.

It is only anecdotal but our family as a whole has followed all the rules with a light touch and have all been out and about, on public transport and elsewhere from the earliest possible moment and we have all generally been free of all winter bugs. We are all fully vaccinated and all, bar one, have had COVID but not severely, including 2 who are immunologically vulnerable.

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.

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!