5 ms·

Can we please have this sort of research for the common cold and flu please. I hate flu season, I'm normally sick three of four times a winter. I get really sic

by xupybd 4y ago

Can we please have this sort of research for the common cold and flu please. I hate flu season, I'm normally sick three of four times a winter. I get really sick at least once a year. I'd love to avoid that.

sebow 4y ago
I don't think this will ever happen. In my opinion the general cold / flu are just "normal" diseases indicative of low immunity. They're not so specific like covid, pox, etc. Though I'm not saying there won't exist medication with immediate effect (because common cold is fairly decent understood), but that there won't be a "one time" medication that will proof our entire lives from such things.
- psychphysic 4y ago
  Not quite, new variants develop and new to adult variants will appear every few years. It's less able to spread than COVID so adults get the flu about every 5 years[0]. I'm sure you've heard of Spanish flu by now, but may not have heard of Encephalitis Lethargica [1] that followed it. Luckily nothing like that has happened again and CFS is tame in comparison. But the flu still has surprises in store for us. [0] https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1002082 https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/jou... [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encephalitis_lethargica https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encephalitis_lethargica
psychphysic 4y ago
Unless you're licking buttons on the subway, how could you possibly be getting exposed to that many different strains? For what it's worth adults get the flu about every 5 years[0]. It's not till we get elderly that we can start catching the same or similar strains more frequently. Similarly with the cold, which are coronaviruses like COVID just lead to less lasting immunity. Long story short. This kind of research won't help, give it several hundred years and the number of COVID variants will be similarly broad as cold and flus and people will catch them at a stable rate. [0] https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1002082 https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/jou...
- jacquesm 4y ago
  > Unless you're licking buttons on the subway, how could you possibly be getting exposed to that many different strains? Kids in primary school (aka the local pathogen exchange) will do that.
- mnw21cam 4y ago
  > Similarly with the cold, which are coronaviruses like COVID just lead to less lasting immunity. This common knowledge needs to die. "Well over 200 virus strains are implicated in causing the common cold, with rhinoviruses, coronaviruses, adenoviruses and enteroviruses being the most common."[0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_cold https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_cold referencing a web page that has gone missing and has re-appeared as https://www.cdc.gov/features/rhinoviruses/ https://www.cdc.gov/features/rhinoviruses/ with slightly different wording.
  - psychphysic 4y ago
- krageon 4y ago
  The quoted paper doesn't support what you say. It also doesn't demonstrate a difference in the elderly. Given that, I'm inclined to take the rest of this post with a grain of salt and I think every other reader should do the same.
  - psychphysic 4y ago
mellavora 4y ago
My wife used to be the same, got 3-5 colds/winter. Started wearing N95 masks with Covid and hasn't had a cold since. Basic hygiene really helps. Though you might have unavoidable exposure (workplace, commute, etc) which increases your risk.
- AndrewThrowaway 4y ago
  Exactly this. People notice this when they have kids and kids start going to kindergarten. I was almost never sick with colds until my kid started going out with other kids. I thought I had a great immunity, it happens I only had good hygiene - washing hands, avoiding contact, rarely going to mass event during flu season and etc. As kids have poorer hygiene habits, are in very very close contact with each other they get sick easier. After a week or so the father is sick with exactly the same symptoms.
  - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
    No need kids for that. You can be single and childless but if you date or screw around a lot then you'll get sick a lot quite easy. Or if your monogamous partner is working in a kindergarten with kids and brings back home every bug they have.
- xupybd 4y ago
  Yeah it does. I made some changes when I got married. I think my problem is that I had my sinuses removed along with a tumor when I was a teenager. Now it seems I just need to see someone sick and I'll catch what they have. During the pandemic I started taking vitamin d. That really took the edge off of the flu. I suspect I'm a bit low on that.
  - Auracle 4y ago
    For what it’s worth, Vitamin D actually subdues your immune system in a lot of ways (and helps in others). One of the theories as to why low Vitamin D levels are correlated to higher deaths from COVID is that Vitamin D helps your immune system from going into overdrive.
criddell 4y ago
Have you noticed if getting a flu shot makes a difference for you?
- xupybd 4y ago
  It normally means I recover about a week earlier when I get the flu. So instead of two weeks down it's a little under one. But I don't know for sure that's not just coincidence.
saiya-jin 4y ago
Unless you have some seriously and permanently weakened immunity, exposure to colds and flus actually helps long term. Also you are potentially passing this increased immunity to your offsprings. Of course going through it sucks, I am in same bandwagon with 2 small kids and getting often sick with same stuff they have. And they do have stuff basically semi-constantly from mid autumn to mid spring. Half the class has constantly running noses. How do you think kids build their immunity? You don't get it by just growing up, its exposure after exposure. Protecting them too much from common stuff is one of the worst things you can do as a parent, they will have serious health issues and allergies later on.
- pas 4y ago
  We could do the immunity building by yearly shots (that contain 100+ strains). It doesn't have to suck.

by xupybd 4y ago

sebow 4y ago

I don't think this will ever happen. In my opinion the general cold / flu are just "normal" diseases indicative of low immunity. They're not so specific like covid, pox, etc. Though I'm not saying there won't exist medication with immediate effect (because common cold is fairly decent understood), but that there won't be a "one time" medication that will proof our entire lives from such things.

psychphysic 4y ago
Not quite, new variants develop and new to adult variants will appear every few years. It's less able to spread than COVID so adults get the flu about every 5 years[0]. I'm sure you've heard of Spanish flu by now, but may not have heard of Encephalitis Lethargica [1] that followed it. Luckily nothing like that has happened again and CFS is tame in comparison. But the flu still has surprises in store for us. [0] https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1002082 https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/jou... [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encephalitis_lethargica https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encephalitis_lethargica

psychphysic 4y ago

Unless you're licking buttons on the subway, how could you possibly be getting exposed to that many different strains? For what it's worth adults get the flu about every 5 years[0]. It's not till we get elderly that we can start catching the same or similar strains more frequently. Similarly with the cold, which are coronaviruses like COVID just lead to less lasting immunity. Long story short. This kind of research won't help, give it several hundred years and the number of COVID variants will be similarly broad as cold and flus and people will catch them at a stable rate. [0] https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1002082 https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/jou...

jacquesm 4y ago
> Unless you're licking buttons on the subway, how could you possibly be getting exposed to that many different strains? Kids in primary school (aka the local pathogen exchange) will do that.
mnw21cam 4y ago
> Similarly with the cold, which are coronaviruses like COVID just lead to less lasting immunity. This common knowledge needs to die. "Well over 200 virus strains are implicated in causing the common cold, with rhinoviruses, coronaviruses, adenoviruses and enteroviruses being the most common."[0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_cold https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_cold referencing a web page that has gone missing and has re-appeared as https://www.cdc.gov/features/rhinoviruses/ https://www.cdc.gov/features/rhinoviruses/ with slightly different wording.
- psychphysic 4y ago
krageon 4y ago
The quoted paper doesn't support what you say. It also doesn't demonstrate a difference in the elderly. Given that, I'm inclined to take the rest of this post with a grain of salt and I think every other reader should do the same.
- psychphysic 4y ago

mellavora 4y ago

My wife used to be the same, got 3-5 colds/winter. Started wearing N95 masks with Covid and hasn't had a cold since. Basic hygiene really helps. Though you might have unavoidable exposure (workplace, commute, etc) which increases your risk.

AndrewThrowaway 4y ago
Exactly this. People notice this when they have kids and kids start going to kindergarten. I was almost never sick with colds until my kid started going out with other kids. I thought I had a great immunity, it happens I only had good hygiene - washing hands, avoiding contact, rarely going to mass event during flu season and etc. As kids have poorer hygiene habits, are in very very close contact with each other they get sick easier. After a week or so the father is sick with exactly the same symptoms.
- ChuckNorris89 4y ago
  No need kids for that. You can be single and childless but if you date or screw around a lot then you'll get sick a lot quite easy. Or if your monogamous partner is working in a kindergarten with kids and brings back home every bug they have.
xupybd 4y ago
Yeah it does. I made some changes when I got married. I think my problem is that I had my sinuses removed along with a tumor when I was a teenager. Now it seems I just need to see someone sick and I'll catch what they have. During the pandemic I started taking vitamin d. That really took the edge off of the flu. I suspect I'm a bit low on that.
- Auracle 4y ago
  For what it’s worth, Vitamin D actually subdues your immune system in a lot of ways (and helps in others). One of the theories as to why low Vitamin D levels are correlated to higher deaths from COVID is that Vitamin D helps your immune system from going into overdrive.

criddell 4y ago

Have you noticed if getting a flu shot makes a difference for you?

xupybd 4y ago
It normally means I recover about a week earlier when I get the flu. So instead of two weeks down it's a little under one. But I don't know for sure that's not just coincidence.

saiya-jin 4y ago

Unless you have some seriously and permanently weakened immunity, exposure to colds and flus actually helps long term. Also you are potentially passing this increased immunity to your offsprings. Of course going through it sucks, I am in same bandwagon with 2 small kids and getting often sick with same stuff they have. And they do have stuff basically semi-constantly from mid autumn to mid spring. Half the class has constantly running noses. How do you think kids build their immunity? You don't get it by just growing up, its exposure after exposure. Protecting them too much from common stuff is one of the worst things you can do as a parent, they will have serious health issues and allergies later on.

pas 4y ago
We could do the immunity building by yearly shots (that contain 100+ strains). It doesn't have to suck.