Why do more people get it around the time when it gets cold? I can tell from personal experience I get cold symptoms when i don’t dress properly when it’s getting colder, or if I spend too much time in a room with AC in the summer. But it’s caused by a virus. What does the temperature have to do with the cold virus?
Also, is the virus wasn’t present would it be possible for us to spend time in cold weather without getting sick?
In: Biology
The common cold is a bunch (over 200 different strains) of viruses that all have similar effects on the body, the most common being Rhinoviruses, Coronaviruses (the general category, not related to SARS-COV-2 that is responsible for Covid), adenoviruses, and Enteroviruses
Pretty much, if it’s a virus that causes mucus production in your upper respiratory system and basically not much else, it can be safely called a cold
As for why you get them when it’s cold outside, there are a few reasons that combine into a solid 1 2 combo
1: Your body is working hard to heat you up, so it has less energy for keeping your immune system at peak performance.
2: You’re more likely to be inside where there’s not a whole lot of places for germs to disperse into the wind
So it’s
Hi! Virologist!
There are many types of “common cold” because it’s a generalized term that describe style generally icky sick feeling we associated with being sick with an upper respiratory virus. That means that there are many different kinds of viruses that collectively can be grouped as “common cold viruses.”
For some of these viruses we acquire them “more in winter” because we’re indoors and around each other more. But that’s a pretty weak explanation. It also has to do with humidity and with our bodies natural response to cold air in our sinus cavities (production of mucus).
However, a huge portion of common cold viruses belong to the picornavirus family. This is a very special type of virus because it’s the only family of viruses that bind to a cellular receptor that is not always expressed on the cell surface. In the case of this virus family they prefer to bind to a receptor that is only expressed during the repair of injured epithelial tissue. Cold weather (and the lack of humidity in cold air) triggers low level tissue injury and the expression of this receptor.
Hence, we are more likely to get sick with picornaviruses (the 200 or so that cause the common cold) when it is cold outside.
Okay many people gave good reasons like we are more inside. One more reason is that your Mucous membranes are dryer. That makes it easier for viruses and bacteria to enter and infect you. Thats why your nose produces slime. The viruses and bacteria are getting stuck in the slime and your immunesystem can clear them out.
Also it is more humid, so (some) bacteria and virsues do not dry out and die, rather are longer active of surfaces.
So theire are many reasons. Usually our bodies are well armed to fight off infections.
If you want to know more about the immunesystem and how it works, have a look at the kurzgesagt yt channel. Those two videos are really great at explaining whats going on.
Latest Answers