To think we might not catch colds any more

[Pannacottaformeplease]

Because of lockdown and social distancing, hand sanitising, masks etc, do you think it's possible that catching colds might be something of a rarity in future? I'm certainly hoping so.

I have to say it’s been bliss without nits. DDs class was constantly riddled with them. It’s been lovely having the past 3 months without having to do any nit treatments. She’s back at school now and I will have to start the weekly nit check again....

I really really hate the fact that people have no problem spreading colds around. I don’t want to go to the cinema and be sneezed and cough over by a whole family for two and a half hours when they could have just stayed home and kept their germs to themselves. I don’t appreciate people wiping their snotty dripping noses with their hands then lifting cans and jars and putting them back on the shelves or coughing all over the loose items in the supermarket. I think there’d be far less absence at work or school if we weren’t expected to always show up even with a heavy cold. I consider it extremely selfish and un-faith like when people attend places of worship full of a cold and proceed to cough, sneeze and splutter all over frail and elderly members of the congregation. Cos “it’s just a cold”. I also hate the attitude of “its good to get a cold! Germs are good for your immune system”. It’s not up to other people to intentionally gift me their illnesses. I’d really rather that friend DO cancel at the last minute rather than turn up to dinner/coffee/night out full of a bug.

I have a quite severe autoimmune disease and have had pneumonia from a simple cold that was doing the rounds twice. One caught at uni at the end of my first semester, another when a woman sneezed on me several times in a row in a small shop.
I’m also a lecturer and freelance professional speaker and I need a working voice!

So...I really hope this makes people more hygienic and considerate. I really, really want things to be better going forward.

That being said someone posted a video online of the social distancing and safety measures in our local shopping centre a couple of days back.

Masses of security on the doors, handgels available and use encouraged (not one person in the queue used it), staff in high vis and PPE barking instructions about 2m distance etc at the queuing public. The person filming just got through the door and one person and their partner and three small kids cut in front of him, stopping dead and trapping him in about a 12inch distance all in eyeshot of the staff. Then another very flushed looking man stopped on the other side of him, leaned against a store front and proceeded to loudly cough, hacking his guts up and not covering his mouth.

This video was meant to reassure the public it was safe to visit the shops . I think selfish, stupid people are always going to think rules, hygiene and etiquette only apply to other people.

DD managed to get a sickness bug last week. I've no idea how as she's had no contact with anyone outside our household and is good on her handwashing.

I also managed to catch a cold (tested and not Coronavirus) and again I have had very little contact with anyone, no shops, no one within 2m and lots of handwashing. It's a bit baffling.

There was a poster on here saying she’d only just realised her children and the whole family had nits last week squidster. Her children must have had them for all the months of lockdown poor souls .

I've been very very strictly shielding following everything to the letter and keep feeling like I'm getting cold through most of it.

Hayfever can cause that tickly at back of throat feeling, sniffy nose etc.

I rarely get eye symptoms with hayfever.

Previously I would have said I had colds but it's almost impossible for me to have had them particularly the amount I feel I would have had!

I know of 2 hub schools that have had outbreaks of nits in this time. Also tummy bugs.

The last few months have definitely been the healthiest in our house. Two DC in school, one DC in nursery, I work in a different school, DH travels around the world for work. With us all home we've had no colds, tummy bugs, or random viruses. It has been a nice break, I must admit.

Dd has had a lingering persistent cough since bloody October. Nursery, every bug going, over and over again. As soon as better she got it again.

We have now had 6 weeks of no cough. First part of lock down it still lingered. I tried absolutely everything.

It's just so nice for her little body to have got a rest and us all some sleep.

Dreading all that starting up again.

DS1 has started back at school one day a week and caught a sick bug immediately. Also recovered extremely quickly, thankfully.

You shouldn’t hope for this!
Our immune systems will be fucked.
We are supposed to encounter germs, that’s how we’ve evolved over many many years.

Dream on, I have one now! (I had c19 in March I think, clean swab on Friday)

Go research the hygiene hypothesis and it’s implications on autoimmune diseases, allergies, asthma, eczema, etc.

I was wondering this, and if people will now be less tolerant of people who go into work with coughs and colds
Probably not unless workplaces relax their sickness rules. We have very strict rules at work regarding periods of sickness ect which triggers unsatisfactory performance issues and can lead to losing the job. If we all stayed home everyone we had a minor cold we'd all be disciplined and sacked.

I was hoping I'll get fewer colds if social distancing continues and mask-wearing in public becomes the norm. I get a couple of colds most winters and feel rubbish for a few days.

I’ve always found colds are more about how a person is coping emotionally in their life.
I’ve gone through periods of never catching a cold for years, and other times being unable to shake them off, ill off and on for months so to be honest think lockdown, hand santizer etc are mostly irrelevant as if your body has a good strong healthy immunity it will fight it off before you ever even feel it

My DDs have been back in school 3 days a week for 3 weeks. They are in bubbles of less than 10. Both of them have already gone down with a cold!

@Pannacottaformeplease I read (will try and find it) that this will be bad for immunity to covid actually- if we get colds it protects us iyswim - we need to catch colds!

If we get a vaccine or treatment we won't be staying in. I won't be washing my hands all the time and avoiding surfaces. I'd rather take the risk of catching colds and build my immunity.

I really hope that shaking hands goes out forever. Men aren't great at washing their hands and to be honest I'd rather have my hand aggressively gripped in a beefy piss paw.

"Both of them have already gone down with a cold!"

Have they been tested for CV? How do you know it's just a cold?

Rather NOT!!

[quote VenusTiger]@Pannacottaformeplease I read (will try and find it) that this will be bad for immunity to covid actually- if we get colds it protects us iyswim - we need to catch colds![/quote]
Yes, and two cold viruses are coronaviruses that might offer some immunity against Covid.

I think there's a point to this actually.

I work in a sealed room, often in close confines to my colleagues for extended periods of time. While I was pondering this, I realised that during the outbreak we haven't had anyone off with a cold. I know it's summer now, but there's always someone off sick usually.

We're all a lot more diligent at cleaning our desks and using hand sanitizer for a start, though I suppose it also helps that we're not sitting in pubs or browsing in shops.

@jamandtonic

As a hay fever sufferer of many years' standing, I would like to say that a hay fever attack is nothing like having a cold.

I've also suffered from hay fever for many years and get a few colds a year and completely disagree that they are nothing like each other. There are similarities.

When a friend got tested for CV, the nurse told him a lot of people testing positive now actually thought it was hay fever to begin with.

No, we won't stop catching colds etc. I had a horrendous bug a few weeks ago. It was so bad I thought I had Covid-19 so we all ended up.self isolating and took home tests. Fortunately it wasn't Covid but it was nasty. I'd only been doing the recommended shopping at the time.

We had a campaign at work last winter to encourage people with colds / coughs not to come in to work. It was run by the cancer network, and as someone who has a lung condition which means a bug can turn nasty quickly I really appreciated it. I understand not everyone can WFH (not all our staff can) but for quite a few people it's dangerous and for the rest it's just unpleasant. I hope the increased emphasis on hygaine will help keep colds and flu down so we no longer have the "office cold" that everyone gets over a few weeks!