If we are in July, then why do so many people have colds?

Question:

A cold is an acute upper respiratory infection caused by a virus, usually occurring between September and May, and is the commonest contagious disease known to mankind. It is most prevalent in children who have daily contact with groups of other children and can occur as much as 20 times a year! Most adults average about 2 colds per year, but the average for children varies with age and exposure. However, what I fail to understand is why, with the weather being as hot as it is here in Texas, do so many otherwise healthy adults with no children have colds right now? I thought June, July, and August (when school is out) were the months you could pretty much rely on being well because only a couple times in my life have I gotten summer colds despite getting them every winter since I was born. They're usually pretty mild, as I never lose my voice, there's not much phlegm, and my snot remains clear throughout the duration, but others get deep, throaty coughs. Why are people so unhealthy?

Answers:
Well, my belief is that the reason some people get more colds and more severe than normal is because the body is your temple and should be taken care of because it's the only one you get, yet some do not. You see, it's one thing when a person works in a daycare and is exposed to cold germs all the time, but when a young person is always having respiratory problems, there's usually something wrong that's more internal. One thing not mentioned by Iris or Cyrus that I happen to know is that NEITHER of these "scouts" would be caught dead puffing on a cigarette! You see, even if one doesn't get lung cancer from smoking, they still increase their risks for respiratory ailments by God-awful numbers because the tar coats the lungs and destroys the tiny cillia responsible for trapping a lot of the pathnogens that cause lower respiratory problems. So a smoker is more likely to catch a cold at any given time and more likely to have complications with it, and neither the asker nor the first responder smoke. Secondly, it is important to focus more on the severity of the colds than on the frequency. To say that the average number of colds per person is 1.?? per year is laughable to me because you cannot have a fraction of a cold and to even try to guage health by such a number makes no sense. So I believe that whatever the number found in studies, it's a good estimate to say it's ABOUT 2 because nothing more specific than that is at all useful. Frequency is pretty much a matter of age and exposure because while it fluctuates greatly from year to year, most people find that the average number steadily decreases with age right up to the later years due to the body recognizing viruses it has dealt with before. That's right, young adults actually have a HIGHER NUMBER of colds, but the severity is greater in older adults in similar living situations. I can't stress enough that it is much healthier to have 3 mild colds than it is to have that 1 that puts you in the hospital! And the kind of colds described by these 2 young people are probably so mild that some people wouldn't even notice them much. So yes, if you're in your 20's and averaging 2 colds in the winter only, you're NOT just lucky. It's probably a combination of good sleep, healthy food, lower stress levels, and just listening to their bodies that makes these young people's immune systems so strong. See, some people might not think much of it if they suddenly vomited or got diarrheah, but I happen to know that neither Iris nor Cyrus would ever blow it off (no pun intended). So when you KNOW you're doing something unhealthy that causes physical discomfort, you'll STOP doing it if you're wise and your body will thank you. One of the ways it does this is to respond more quickly to the mild illnesses to which we all are exposed.

Other Answers:
Yeah, I know! I only get colds between October and April and they stay confined to my nose, throat, and head (so mild I never even need sissy Kleenex cuz my index finger's adequate to wipe that watery snot I get). But there's people in the hospital with pneumonia right now, so who'd get sick in the middle of July?

The viruses are beginning a mutation and different strains of these are more prevelent in warmer weather. Its scary to think what the future holds eh. Colds are not just for three season out of the year. You hear more about them during the school year because children are in contact with more germs and tend to spread them around more than during the summer.

Those who work in and around the public have a greater chance of catching a cold because of handling money and just general contact.

Acute nasopharyngitis, often known as the common cold, is a mild viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory system (nose and throat). Symptoms include sneezing, sniffling, nasal congestion; scratchy, sore, or phlegmy throat; coughing; headache; and tiredness. Colds typically last three to five days, with residual coughing lasting up to three weeks. As its name suggests, it is the most common of all human diseases, infecting subjects at an average rate of slightly over one infection per year per person. Infection rates greater than three infections per year per person are not uncommon in some populations. Children and their caretakers are at a higher risk, probably due to the high population density of schools and the fact that transmission to family members is highly efficient.

The common cold belongs to the upper respiratory tract infections. It is different from influenza, a more severe viral infection of the respiratory tract that shows the additional symptoms of rapidly rising fever, chills, and body and muscle aches. While the common cold itself is rarely life threatening, its complications, such as pneumonia, can very well be.

It is only now becoming known but it is just a fact that many of the colds we have are not caused by viruses, or even bacteria. Instead, think allergy: pollen, dust, grasses, and foods, such as coffee beans, wheat products, many others. There's a good chance if you go to an allergy doctor for simple testing you can be fixed up for years with very little effort on yourt part after that workup is dealt with.

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If we are in July, then why do so many people have colds?

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