What's going on with the common cold?

[Kit]

Several people I've spoken to have come up with the same observation. Traditional colds used to be 3 days coming, 3 days here, 3 days going and that was it. I used to go for years without getting so much as a sniffle. However over the last few years colds seem to be going on for much longer - I've had mine for 4 weeks now and am getting heartily sick of it, and many of my friends and work colleagues are similarly affected.
Are our immune systems less effective? Are the strains of cold around at the moment really more nasty than they used to be? Or are our immune systems better and we're really fighting off something altogether different, as there are more viruses around now?
The first person to suggest that it's my age will have my cold wished upon them.

[sft42]

Next time your watching the goggle box and the adverts come on, take a look at home many product are anti-bacterial this and kills all germs that...we're living in an increasingly astiseptic world an our immune systems don't get the chance to fight off bugs anymore so when we do get a nasty one we struggle badly with it and it takes much longer that it used to......That's my excuse for my house being a pigsty and I'm happy!

[woofgang]

sft42 has a point in that we tend to disinfect our homes now rather than scrubbing them. This, according to my friendly occy health nurse, kills off the vulnerable bugs that would have tested our immune systems without making us ill and leaves the nastier ones, giving us nastier colds, flu etc. She is a great proponent of a bit of healthy dirt, plus soap and water handwashing and hot water and soap scrubbing to clean to protect us against the nasties. NOBA, the habits of trapping coughs and sneezes in a handkerchief seems to be dying out, plus the darling habit of spitting in public appears to be in rennaissance, so we tend to be more generous in sharing our own personal infections in public. Also, I live in the south of england, and its my perception that this spate of warm damp winters that we have had recently has meant that like the garden pests, the bugs have not been reduced by nature. I also think that we tend more to "struggle on" with colds flu etcetera, both sharing the bugs around and putting more stress on our bodies in fighting them off. Lots of alsos there and I sound like my own grandmother!!

[apricot]

I am just beginning my 3rd in a six month period. The first 2 were 5 weekers, I am in the first week of this one. My doctor does not believe in antibiotics or using anything to supress symptoms. He thinks that you cough because you need to expel something from your lungs so why would we not want to do that? He also believes that overuse of antibiotics for minor illnesses means that they may not work when we really need them. Logic makes me agree with him but the reality is hard to live with. I am not overly house proud and do not disinfect so I can't blame that and I live in the far north of England where we have long hard winters so the theory of really cold weather killing off bugs doesn't seem to hold up either. I used to enjoy rude good health until fairly recently so what has happened to effect such a change? I think I am very reluctant to take days off work 'just for a cold' and so work on whereas at one time I would maybe take a day or two off at the beginning of a cold which seemed to do the trick. Incidentally, I am home nursing this cold and am feeling much better.

[woofgang]

poor you apricot. Sadly your doc is right about the antibiotics - they don't work on viruses, which is what cause colds and flu. I take your point about living in the north, but the problem with the disinfect or not issue is that we are at the mercy of what the whole community does so if your neighbours, workmates, employers etc are sprayers rather than scrubbers so to speak, then you too will reap the results of that. Stay home, keep warm, drink plenty of fluids and get well soon...

[boognish76]

I, too, used to go years without a cold and am now on my second cold this year! And, yes, they do seem to last longer, especially the cough that inevitably follows. Yet I live in filth, eat tonnes of out-of-date food, and never take antibiotics, so why me? I hate to say it but I fear age may be a factor as, obviously, I'm older than I used to be!

[Kit]

Oh good, so I'm not the only one who's less than obsessional about housework! My conscience is much clearer now. Heard somewhere that you have to eat your own weight in dirt for a healthy immune system (presumably not all at once...) which has been my excuse for many years.
Interesting argument about antibiotics. I know they're not supposed to work against viruses, but after last winter when she was in hosp almost fortnightly, they put my littl'un on long-term antibiotics this Sept. Within 3 weeks she had stopped wheezing and coughing for the first time since she was 6 months old, and has had a really good winter (she's had a cold about every month, but nothing like as bad as they used to be.) When she's been admitted I've always been told that it's viral, no evidence of bacterial infection, so I assumed that she was just very susceptible to viruses.... so why should an antibiotic protect her from them? Even the docs say that they're not sure why this particular antibiotic works in this way, but it's apparently a well-known effect.
My theory is that if you're constantly being worn down by low-grade bacterial infections, then you don't have much reserve to deal with viruses.
Bear up, fellow-suffers, there's someone else out here going through 2 boxes of Kleenex a day as well......

[apricot]

Thanks for your sympathy woofgang. I am feeling much better now and am aiming to fight my way through the snow this morning to work. Not like me to have a whinge, I am usually fairly laid back. Anyway I am of to sunnier climes next week which should build me up somewhat,