blonde-haired blue eyed boys get more viruses? is this true?

[mrsbaldwin]

So there we are at A&E last night with poor old DS who turns out to have a bad case of bronchiolitis.

The triage nurse commented:
'There's research to show that blonde haired blue eyed boys are more prone to picking up viruses.'
'Really?' I said
'Yes I've read it'.

But I was a bit preoccupied and didn't ask her any more questions.

This morning I've remembered what she said and done some Googling but haven't found any links so far.

Has anyone else heard this, or know what research she could be talking about? Is this true?

Thanks very much.

[festivefreakout]

no idea of research but my blonde blue eyed boy is continually with cold!! will be interested to see if there's back up for this...

[Ineedsomesleep]

I would be interested to read it if there is any. DS is 5 and has just had Glandu
lar Fever.

[strawberrycornetto]

My son has white blond hair and blue eyes and is always ill . How interesting! I have read that boys are more prone to chest problems, but not heard that before.

[YouDontKnowMeFromAdam]

My blond blue-eyed boy (nearly 2) is pretty resilient.

[YouDontKnowMeFromAdam]

Would be interested to read the reasearch though, as he is blond and blue.

[LynetteScavo]

My boy blond haired blie eyes boy isn't any more prone to picking up a virus than his brown eyed, brown haired borther.

[JInglesBells]

my blond haired blue eyed boy is now 10 and despite having a peanut allergy and eczema has never really had a virus in his life... he's never unwell (touches wood)
my brown eyed,brown haired boy though has constant colds and viruses
so nothing in it as far as I am concerned.

[bruffin]

Thats interesting. When my DS (mediteranean colouring) had his first febrile convulsion, the paramedic said to me it was unusual to see a child with his colouring have a fc as usually they were blonde /blue eyed. Now there is a genetic link to fcs and it has come down through the blue eye/lighter hair side of my family.

my DD was blond haired/blue eyed and she is not particularly unhealthy, had quite a few colds as a baby but to be honest is hardly ill.

[mrmellors]

I've got two blonde blue-eyed boys and one brown-haired blue-eyed boy, and haven't noticed a difference.

IF it's true, I guess it may be because brown eyes are genetically dominant? In other words, to remain blue-eyed, over the course of thousands of years you would have had less mixing of your genes and therefore less exposure to different types of illness and therefore a blue-eyed child may not have the same immunity? Does that make any sense at all?

[ravenAK]

I thought viruses were more about individual exposure than genetics - eg. dh moved to live with me, & spent several years subsequently catching 'Northern lurgies' (all varieties of man flu...) to which he claimed he had no previous resistance.

If it's genetic I'd think eye colour would be the determinant, as it's more closely genetically linked (although not in the binary blue/brown way I was taught at school).

I have 3 mousy dc who are variously brown, ginger & blonde depending on time of year, & will all probably darken to brunette as I did, so I'm not sure about the blond link.

[zippy539]

I've got a blue eyed blonde haired girl who never gets sick and a mousy haired green eyed boy who gets everything thats going. Any help?

[WhatFuckingYearIsItAnyway]

what a load of silly nonsense

apart from having no scientific basis whatsoever, my own blue-eyed blond haired boy has had about 2 viruses in his life

he is 10

[llareggub]

My blond-haired, blue-eyed boy is pretty resilient. He has colds from time to time but has never been very ill. I did breastfeed him for nearly 3 years though.

[DollyMessiter]

My blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy is practically indestructible.
My black-haired, green-eyed boy is a virii magnet.

[mrsbaldwin]

Thanks all.

Seems like no-one has heard of this supposed research. You would have thought that if there really was some, someone on here would know about it, wouldn't you?

(whatyearisitanyway: "apart from having no scientific basis whatsoever ..." - that's exactly the point. A nurse told me, said she'd read some research. That's why I was asking.)

[Divatheshopaholic]

I never heard this before. I have friend with two blonde boys with beautiful blue eyes.

[moodlum]

Having just got back from hospital with ds (4) after a viral gastro thing got him in there 24hours ago, I would definitely agree with this. He is plagued by viruses. DD - with her gypsy looks, is not...

[feedthegoat]

My blonde blue eyed ds doesn't seem to get more illnesses than anyone else. He does suffer with high temperatures once he is ill though.

Not so much now but when they were small toddlers his brown haired, brown eyed cousin seemed to catch everything going where as ds was only ill now and then.

[Clary]

My blond-haired blue eyed boy is 10 and a half and hasn't had a day off school since the start of year 3. In his whole school life he has had about 2 days off.

So I reckon he's pretty healthy! FWIW, statistically speaking

Never heard that stat used before btw.

[LW223]

So, I know this conversation was 12 years ago, but just wanted to comment that I was told the same thing by a nurse. My son is 17 now, but he had RSV and asthma as a baby. The nurse told me that blonde haired blue eyed boys are much more sensitive and likely to have allergies. In addition to the respiratory issues, he is highly sensitive in many other ways as well. He is very sensitive to scratchy clothing, can't wear flip flops because he can't stand the feeling of something between his toes. He is extremely sensitive emotionally as well. He was a cryer all through elementary school and was teased by other kids. He is highly empathetic and has a huge heart for anyone who is hurting. He's very sensitive to loud noises and does not do well in chaotic situations. Those situations often develop into migraines or anxiety attacks. I can't help but think it's all related.

[Louisa111]

My blonde blue eyed boy has always been really healthy.. never had to visit a doctor once or ever been prescribed antibiotics for illness.
He is however very accident prone and in the last year been to a&e twice 🙈