PITTSBURGH — The cold versus a cold
Remember the voice in the back of your head telling you to bundle up before you go outside or you’ll catch a cold? It probably sounds a lot like your mom. Perhaps you’ve also heard it tell you about not going out with a wet head too.
Sorry to burst those bubbles, but there isn’t as much truth to what your mom said as you may think. It was more so your mom just being a mom.
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When you step outside with a wet head it may give you the chills, but not the kind you get from a cold or the flu. A cold is caused by viruses and has no influence on your risk of coming into contact with one. It's a virus' ability to spread via respiratory droplets (i.e. someone coughing or sneezing) that makes you prone to getting sick—whether your hair is wet or not, according to Heather Rosen, M.D., medical director of UPMC Urgent Care North Huntingdon in Pennsylvania.
No matter if you have on multiple layers of clothes or a t-shirt and shorts, your odds of getting sick are the same. If the temperature is 52 or 22, the cold air doesn’t have an impact on whether or not you get a cold, the flu or any other type of virus. Doctors say that close contact with a person who has a virus can lead to you becoming sick. If those “droplets” come in contact with your nose, mouth or eyes, no amount of clothing will help protect you from getting sick. In general, the cold or flu virus isn’t dependent on temperature but more moisture. With a lack of moisture in the winter, the germs are more likely to thrive.
The shot got me sick!
You have likely heard it from a number of people and perhaps you’ve even said it yourself: the claim that you’ll get sick if you get the flu shot. Sorry to tell you, but it’s not possible.
The flu virus is a live virus, wherein the vaccine is from a dead virus, according to Rosen. It is possible to feel like you are sick after getting stuck with that needle, but it is a side-effect of the shot, not you coming down with the flu. Doctors say sore muscles, a mild fever, headache or even swelling near the injection site are all normal reactions to the shot itself, not the flu. If you get sick within two weeks of the shot, there’s a good chance it was because you weren’t fully protected yet, since it takes that long for the immunization to take effect.
Vitamin C to cure a cold?
While it sounds like a fantastic idea to pump yourself with vitamin C before or after you get sick, it may not have the full benefits you were hoping for. Research is conflicting but a review of studies from 2013, related to Vitamin C and the common cold, shows taking Vitamin C doesn’t protect you against catching a cold. The good news? Vitamin C may reduce the length of your cold. All in all, taking a ton of Vitamin C cannot prevent or cure a cold, according to Rosen.
Important reminders
Staying away from Aunt Sue, brother Bob or your co-worker Jan while they are sick is probably a good idea. However, it’s not guaranteed you won’t get ill. Viruses can be transferred from hand-to-hand contact or contaminated surfaces. According to the American Lung Association, people can spread the flu before they even know they're sick, starting one day before symptoms develop and up to five to seven days after becoming sick. Furthermore, germs are more likely to spread when the temperature warms up. On cold days, folks are cooped up in their house with the germs. When the air temperatures rise, people tend to open up their windows or go outdoors more. When this happens, germs are more likely to spread because people take them out of the house with them.