by melinda mcgarty webb
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aaa-choooo! Hack-hack! Those are sounds none of the germs. They are essentially everywhere. “These bugs us want to hear this time of year. are out there. We’re all exposed,” Higgins says. “But to keep Sneezing, sore throat, runny nose and cough — we yourself healthy, have good hand hygiene. Hopefully, you all know the symptoms of the common cold far too can avoid getting sick.” well. After all, the National Institutes of Health estimates that She says while the primary mode of transmission is respiwe suffer more than 1 billion colds evratory — people sneezing or coughing ery year in this country. Yes, you read — viruses also can be picked up from that correctly — billion, with a B. Colds a germ-laden surface. “If a kid sneezaccount for more than 22 million school es right in my face, and I’m not able “The flu is more serious than absences each year, and are the leadto dodge the mucus, I’m going to get the common cold,” says Dr. ing cause of doctor visits and missed sick. I just know it. That’s why we teach LizHiggins, associate professor days from school and work, accordkids to cough into their arm, so they’re of pediatrics at Albany Medical ing to the Centers for Diseases Control not coughing on each other,” Higgins College. “It comes on in a and Prevention. says. “That’s the primary way, but the different way — higher fever, A cold is an illness “caused by one other way is that they touch a surface more severe symptoms, people of many common viruses, usually charthat has droplets on it, and then they kind of feel like they’ve been hit acterized by self-limited symptoms like touch their mucus membranes or eat by a truck. fever, cough, runny nose or sore throat, food, and they inoculate themselves.” “We do have medicine to treat that gets better without intervention,” Just how long can those viruses surthe flu,” she says. “We have explains Dr. Liz Higgins, an assistant vive on surfaces? “It varies, depending some anti-virals, some antiprofessor of pediatrics at Albany Medipartly on where the germ-laden dropflu types of medicines we can cal College. lets fall,” writes Dr. James Steckelberg use. Unfortunately, the flu can One of the reasons the common cold of the Mayo Clinic on that organizaturn into a more serious illness, whereas the common cold is so prevalent is that approximately tion’s website. “Experiments with speusually doesn’t.” 200 different viruses can cause its cific cold and flu germs have shown Colds generally don’t result in symptoms, according to the National potential survival times ranging from a serious health problems, such as Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disfew minutes to 48 hours or more. How pneumonia, bacterial infections, eases. Among the most common are long such germs remain capable of inor hospitalizations, according to the rhinoviruses and coronaviruses. fecting you in day-to-day life is harder literature from the Centers for Within each of those virus types, are to say.” Disease Control and Prevention. multiple subsets, many of which are He says the germs generally remain “Because colds and flu share constantly mutating. So even if you had active longer on stainless steel, plasmany symptoms, it can be a coronavirus early in the season and tic and similar hard surfaces than they difficult (or even impossible) to developed some immunity, a slightly do on fabric and other soft surfaces. tell the difference between them different coronavirus could have you “Other factors, such as the amount of based on symptoms alone,” the back in bed, under the covers, a few virus deposited on a surface and the CDC notes. “Special tests that months later. temperature and humidity of the enusually must be done within the Some of them, such as the rhinovivironment, also have effects on how first few days of illness can be ruses, which account for 30 to 50 perlong cold and flu germs stay active carried out, when needed to tell cent of all colds, generally don’t prooutside the body,” he says. “It’s easy if a person has the flu.” duce serious illnesses. Scientists have to catch the flu or a cold from rubbing found more than 100 distinct rhinoviyour nose after handling an object an rus types, according to NIAID. These viruses grow best at infected person sneezed on a few moments ago. But pertemperatures of about 91ºF — the temperature inside the sonal contact with an infected person — a handshake, for human nose. How very convenient! example — is the most common way these germs spread.” Others, such as respiratory syncytial virus, (commonly reMany people still believe that colds are more common in ferred to as “RSV,”) generally cause mild infections in adults, the winter months because the temperatures are colder. but can have more serious consequences for children — parMany of our mothers told us we would catch a cold if we ticularly premature babies. went outside without our jacket, or with a wet head. But One of the other biggest problems is the prevalence of there’s not really any scientific foundation for either claim.
Cold or flu?
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