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Original poster

How sickness spreads in a household

29 replies

Chloefairydust · 05/10/2022 02:30

So have recently come down with a cold, and it got me thinking. I live with my partner and we are very close, (sharing a bed etc) however he never catches colds from me and I never catch them from him. I’m just sat here now thinking how strange that is. We have been together 5 years and have both been ill a number of times but we never seem to catch it from each other.

So I’m not sure what exactly it is I’m asking here, how does illness spread in your house? Is there certain family members you just never catch sickness from despite being close and sharing germs? Is it impossible or less likely to catch illness from certain people?

If there is anyone here more scientifically minded who actually knows the reason behind this, I would be fascinated to know, why this is?

OP posts:
InvincibleInvisibility · 05/10/2022 02:53

It doesn't in our house. No idea why but its really rare for us to pass things on. This has included flu, tonsillitis, coughs, covid, norovirus, foot and mouth...

Recently my youngest had the flu. He co slept with me and frequently hugged me to feel better. I cleaned up his sick, carried him everywhere and got coughed on. Didn't get it.

Original poster
Chloefairydust · 05/10/2022 03:10

It’s so strange isn’t it? I mean you would have 100% been exposed to those germs 🤔

And the person I caught this from I probably would have had the briefest contact with.

Also when I lived with my mum I would always catch any illness she had and vice versa, and still do if either of us has any contract with each other when one of us is sick.

OP posts:
Original poster
Chloefairydust · 05/10/2022 05:31

Bump

OP posts:
Msgrieves · 05/10/2022 05:37

You probably have a very similar immune system to your mother, less so with partner. Therefore you will be susceptible to different viruses than dp, same viruses as mother.

ohfook · 05/10/2022 05:55

No idea. I can't remember the stats but even during covid's worst bits it was unlikely you'd pass it to everyone in your house.

Tigerbus · 05/10/2022 06:27

What if no one catches any illness?

What if your body is run down/doing too much on very little nutrients and therefore calls for a bit of a rest/tlc by making you feel unwell and needing to take things a little easier for a few days?

Your family or those close to you are not run down/they have absorbed a sufficient amount of nutrients/handle daily stresses different to you?

What if the "caught your cold" is actually your body realising that yes, you too are little run down and might benefit from just taking it easy like this family/close friend with cold like symptoms?

What if the reason it 'goes on your chest' is because you didn't support your health when it was at its early stages of crying out for some tlc? Or that you have overloaded your body with the wrong foods which then makes it harder to get well quicker?

What if children getting tummy aches is just that they're more in tune with their gut flora and have an immature gut which needs more nutrients to support them differently?

So many questions about health... which I have zero answer for!

Thequeenofwishfulthinking · 05/10/2022 06:35

I've no answers but just to say its always been the same here. I've never caught anything from my 3 dcs and they don't seem to catch anything from me. This includes covid, chicken pox, noro, impetigo, tonsillitis and many more. I'm a lone parent so deal with everything including cleaning up the vomit!

SpringRainbow · 05/10/2022 06:40

If one of the kids brings a sick bug into the house I usually have a pretty good chance of escaping it.

My (ex) DH and the other child would almost always catch it.

Colds, flu, and any other similar bug it would usually spread to at least one other person.

The kids are very good at sharing bugs with each other, generally most of the time if one goes down they will bring the other one down with them.

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 05/10/2022 06:57

@Chloefairydust it's odd isn't it. I had norovirus a couple of weeks ago. Threw up, went back to the same bed as DH. Continued to throw up for 12 hours.

No one else in my household caught it from me, although 10 people who had had the same buffet as me did at a work event.

JenniferBarkley · 05/10/2022 07:03

It's the same here, I catch everything and DH catches nothing. If he does catch something from me it's a little sniffle while I'll be snotty and hacking up a lung for three weeks.

Thinking about what we've learned from covid, is it possible they catch it from us but are asymptomatic? Is covid unusual in having such a high asymptomatic rate and such a variation in symptoms from person to person?

GreenFingersWouldBeHandy · 05/10/2022 07:06

No idea. I've caught coughs, colds and COVID from my partner but he doesn't catch anything from me.

Likewise, as a kid, when my older sister went to school, then caught measles, mumps and chickenpox etc, I would get them two weeks later.

mynannygoat7 · 05/10/2022 07:08

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 05/10/2022 06:57

@Chloefairydust it's odd isn't it. I had norovirus a couple of weeks ago. Threw up, went back to the same bed as DH. Continued to throw up for 12 hours.

No one else in my household caught it from me, although 10 people who had had the same buffet as me did at a work event.

Surely that is food poisoning?

mondaytosunday · 05/10/2022 07:43

I heard that one of the things that attracts people to each other is complimentary immune systems, so they don't get sick from each other. I rarely if ever got sick if my husband came down with something and vice versa.

HighlandPony · 05/10/2022 07:54

I don’t get sick. Ever. I catch colds and I sweat them out for a day or two but generally I don’t get sick. My immune system is like a well drilled army. Kids get colds but very rarely a sick bug either. Hubby gets sickness and diarrhoea bugs at least every few months. Guess who’s the cleanest person in our house? Yup - him. The rest of us are shovelling horseshite with one hand and eating with the other, swimming in Loch water that’s deffo got beasties in it, trudging around in muck and manure and the rest all day. He showers everyday at work, he’s cautious about hand washing and he doesn’t do ten second rule.

Crunchymum · 05/10/2022 08:06

DP and I been together 15 years and don't catch anything from each other. To be fair he is rarely ill (I am medically immunosupressed so often have the sniffles) but I don't catch things from the kids either.

None of us caught covid when DC1 had it. The kids don't get each others sickness bugs and nor do we adults. Although over the years we've individually had sickness bugs.

Oddly DP caught HFM from the youngest last year - and was worse than she was - but that was a complete anomaly.

I am not a mega clean freak, although I have emetophobia so the bleach comes out as soon as someone mentions feeling sick. Kids and I have annual flu jabs, I've had my covid jabs. DP hasn't.

There is no rhyme or reason to it.

Original poster
Chloefairydust · 05/10/2022 14:59

mondaytosunday · 05/10/2022 07:43

I heard that one of the things that attracts people to each other is complimentary immune systems, so they don't get sick from each other. I rarely if ever got sick if my husband came down with something and vice versa.

This is interesting 🤔 …

OP posts:
BBBBMushroom · 05/10/2022 15:38

DH alway catches something and I often catch it from him. Tried my best to not catch what he is recovering from, it’s not covid but it’s a nasty cold but appear to have succumbed.

gogohmm · 05/10/2022 15:46

Ive managed to not catch covid from dp or our kids (university aged and socialise lots). In fact far from isolating I deliberately tried to catch it earlier in the year from dp as it was 5 weeks before a long haul holiday, thought it was best to get it over with before going. Never tested positive

ShirleyHolmes · 05/10/2022 15:47

I never catch anything, which is sometimes frustrating as my partner catches everything from the kids and the dressing gown of doom is in regular use! Sometimes I have a sniffle for a few hours, it never develops and I am otherwise in rude health. I’ve never had covid/ norovirus or anything really. I went to boarding school and I think I developed a stonking immune system then.

i do wonder about the differing ways bodies respond to trauma though. My partner and I both experienced significant trauma in our childhoods. She has supremely stable MH but is susceptible to all viruses and has arthritis, migraines, sinus issues and so on. OTOH, I am in excellent physical health but have poor MH. I do find this interesting!

ButteryNuts · 05/10/2022 15:49

I wonder if it's as you have been together from when they first got the hint of infectiousness, your immune system kicks in and puts up the defensive before they're at their most infectious.

Whereas if you bump into a super infectious person in the streets, your body doesn't have that prior exposure to protect itself?

Original poster
Chloefairydust · 05/10/2022 15:51

Msgrieves · 05/10/2022 05:37

You probably have a very similar immune system to your mother, less so with partner. Therefore you will be susceptible to different viruses than dp, same viruses as mother.

Also I thought this really made a lot of sense so started googling genetics and immune systems because I clearly have nothing better to do with my day lol but couldn’t find anything. The only thing I found was that as a baby if your breastfed then antibodies are passed from mother to baby although I wasn’t breastfed as a baby either… So the mystery continues 🤔 …

Interestingly though I’m remembering literally catching every single single bug going as a child. I was literally always sick (thank God I grew out of that) … So I’m now wondering if that was due to not being breastfed as a baby… hmmm lots to think about today 🤔😂

OP posts:
Original poster
Chloefairydust · 05/10/2022 15:53

@ShirleyHolmes what is the dressing gown of doom?? 😁

OP posts:
ShirleyHolmes · 05/10/2022 16:12

Chloefairydust · 05/10/2022 15:53

@ShirleyHolmes what is the dressing gown of doom?? 😁

😂😂 it’s a MN term for someone , usually a partner, who shuffles around the house looking pathetic and complaining of being unwell whilst wearing the dressing gown of doom. Often combines with said person being too ill to undertake any household or child care tasks. Most usually used to describe hypochondriac men who have regular man flu! Not very PC I know!

Original poster
Chloefairydust · 05/10/2022 16:32

ShirleyHolmes · 05/10/2022 16:12

😂😂 it’s a MN term for someone , usually a partner, who shuffles around the house looking pathetic and complaining of being unwell whilst wearing the dressing gown of doom. Often combines with said person being too ill to undertake any household or child care tasks. Most usually used to describe hypochondriac men who have regular man flu! Not very PC I know!

Show quote history

🤣 sounds attractive… I’m now glad glad DH doesn’t own a dressing gown 😂

OP posts:
Thesearmsofmine · 05/10/2022 16:34

One of my sons never catches anything. The rest of us went down with norovirus and he escaped it. When DH had shingles my sons didn’t get CP, none of us caught covid from each other either.

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