Why Everyone Has the Worst Summer Cold Ever
Why Everyone Has the Worst Summer Cold Ever
As pandemic restrictions begin to relax, common viruses that cause drippy noses, stuffy heads and other cold symptoms have roared back to taunt your immune system.
Excerpts:
"Infectious disease experts say there are a number of factors fueling this hot, sneezy summer. While pandemic lockdowns protected many people from Covid-19, our immune systems missed the daily workout of being exposed to a multitude of microbes back when we commuted on subways, spent time at the office, gathered with friends and sent children to day care and school.
Although your immune system is likely as strong as it always was, if it hasn’t been alerted to a microbial intruder in a while, it may take a bit longer to get revved up when challenged by a pathogen again, experts say. And while some viral exposures in our past have conferred lasting immunity, other illnesses may have given us only transient immunity that waned as we were isolating at home.
“Frequent exposure to various pathogens primes or jazzes up the immune system to be ready to respond to that pathogen,” said Dr. Paul Skolnik, an immunovirologist and chair of internal medicine at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. “If you’ve not had those exposures, your immune system may be a little slower to respond or doesn’t respond as fully, leading to greater susceptibility to some respiratory infections and sometimes longer or more protracted symptoms.”
[...]
While doctors may test young children to confirm a case of R.S.V., and many people who have cold symptoms will be tested to rule out Covid-19, most people probably won’t know the specific respiratory virus causing their symptoms, said Dr. Kathryn M. Edwards, professor of pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
“We’re seeing each other again and sharing our viruses, and I think maybe we are all a little more susceptible to viruses we haven’t seen,” said Dr. Edwards. “To know exactly what each person has is hard to say. In adults, the symptoms by and large are the same, and you can’t tell if it’s R.S.V., rhinovirus, parainfluenza or another cold virus.”
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I was happy to have no colds or flu for well over a year, presumably due to staying home most of the time, wearing masks when out, and social distancing, but it appears that there could be a price to pay for that lack of exposure to common viruses.
If I come down with a "summer cold," I will probably want to get a Covid test even though I'm fully vaccinated.
