the common cold mystery

[asecin]

hi guys i got cold recently without exposure to humans who had it so it kind of puzzled me how i got it. now i heard theories u catch it if you go in cold for prolonged time and you somehow get it mysteriously but i checked all sites on internet talking about the common cold, all of them state you catch it from contact with another person actually having it. now, what puzzles me, how the hell the first transporter of it catches it by itself anyway ? it never explains how its possible to even catch it if you get in the cold. it just assumes you have chance of getting it but its all the time stating you get it from actual human contact. yet i got cold many times without human contact !
so can someone riddle me this, does the common cold virus just flies in open air waiting for someone with a weakened immune system to adopt it ? if that is so, how the fuck that happens anyway ???

 

[addictivepersona]

I *think* the common cold "bug" can live on surfaces for awhile--Then when you touch said surface, it transfers to your hands. Then when you touch your eyes/nose/mouth (or don't wash your hands before touching something that will touch your face) it gets transferred that way.

Going out into the cold *may* make you more susceptible to catch a cold as it lowers your immune system.

 

[Changed]

You come in contact with the germs when you touch anything that other people touch: railings, doors, computer keyboards, etc........ The best way to keep from catching 'the cold' is to washing your hands often and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

 

[T. Calderone]

I have heard that people who use hand sanitizers frequently become more susceptible to catching colds. I wonder if this is true. But I think there is a definite correlation with excess stress causes weakened immune system.

 

[beagleboy]

I know of people who dont get colda anymore.
Eastern/Chinese sciences.........you might be familur with.
I dont feel like sourcing anything right now.

 

[Changed]

I have heard that people who use hand sanitizers frequently become more susceptible to catching colds. I wonder if this is true. But I think there is a definite correlation with excess stress causes weakened immune system.

Yes; I have a friend that never uses anti-bacterial products because he fears they'll put a damper on his immune system. Just like the old story of anti-biotic drugs causing mutant forms of viruses that cannot be killed with normal drugs...

 

[asecin]

Yes; I have a friend that never uses anti-bacterial products because he fears they'll put a damper on his immune system. Just like the old story of anti-biotic drugs causing mutant forms of viruses that cannot be killed with normal drugs...

any further information on this ?

 

[asecin]

I *think* the common cold "bug" can live on surfaces for awhile--Then when you touch said surface, it transfers to your hands. Then when you touch your eyes/nose/mouth (or don't wash your hands before touching something that will touch your face) it gets transferred that way.

Going out into the cold *may* make you more susceptible to catch a cold as it lowers your immune system.

any further information on this ?

 

[asecin]

I know of people who dont get colda anymore.
Eastern/Chinese sciences.........you might be familur with.
I dont feel like sourcing anything right now.

any further information on this ?

 

[Jabberwocky]

People can be contagions who are not showing symptoms. Most virus infections are most contagious before people have developed symptoms. Cash and change are a common mode of transmission where you have not even seen the person who was the source of the virus. You put your change away after checking out, then you touch your nose or mouth before washing your hands and you can catch a cold.

Good news is you are now immune to that particular strain. The older people get the fewer cold because your immune system has a larger # of strains it has already been exposed to. I agree with constant hand washing not usually being very productive unless you or somebody in your household is immuno-compromised from chemo-therapy or something. Most strains are going to get you at some point anyways.

 

[asecin]

People can be contagions who are not showing symptoms. Most virus infections are most contagious before people have developed symptoms. Cash and change are a common mode of transmission where you have not even seen the person who was the source of the virus. You put your change away after checking out, then you touch your nose or mouth before washing your hands and you can catch a cold.

Good news is you are now immune to that particular strain. The older people get the fewer cold because your immune system has a larger # of strains it has already been exposed to. I agree with constant hand washing not usually being very productive unless you or somebody in your household is immuno-compromised from chemo-therapy or something. Most strains are going to get you at some point anyways.

i usually do not use sanitizers too often when out in nature, but when im around people and around dirty social places, i cant stop doing it. my hands feel sticky and i dont feel comfortable unless cleaning my hands, face etc.
are you saying i should ignore this annoying sense i have on my body and not wash at all in order to be better ??
also, how many strains of cold are they ? if you keep catching new ones...

 

[Jabberwocky]

No, sanitize as you like, but regarding colds our main defense is prior exposure. Little kids are chronic snot monsters in part because their immune system has to catch up on immunity to many strains that adults have already encountered. I have no idea how many strains there are. Sanitizing might be a very good idea regarding other pathogens.

An argument against triclosan and some other sanitizers is that some researchers believe that they are increasing pathogens resistant to multiple agents, like MRSA. I am not up on how accurate that hypothesis is. Most pathogens are easily kept at bay by skin and our immune sytem. Regarding some pathogens exposure confers immunity, regarding many others this is not true.

If things are making you feel dirty washing and sanitizing are psychologically beneficial as well as stopping somethings from infecting you or from being passed on to others.

 

[asecin]

i disagree tho. its not natural to get colds and to train your immune system in such way.
it is the socializing that causes humans all those nasty diseases and its not natural. it is forced upon you ! humans designed some social structure that you get involved in since birth and its not natural whole time through when you catch all the diseases like we do. i guess our immune systems are completely exhausted tnx to our addiction to socializing.
in nature, we have enough normally accepted pathogens to train our immune system so socializing just adds a huge unnecessary punch to it.
in conclusion;
socializing = diseases

 

[dokomo]

i disagree tho. its not natural to get colds and to train your immune system in such way.
it is the socializing that causes humans all those nasty diseases and its not natural. it is forced upon you ! humans designed some social structure that you get involved in since birth and its not natural whole time through when you catch all the diseases like we do. i guess our immune systems are completely exhausted tnx to our addiction to socializing.
in nature, we have enough normally accepted pathogens to train our immune system so socializing just adds a huge unnecessary punch to it.
in conclusion;
socializing = diseases

That might be a nice thought, but its a total load of bollocks scientifically. Bacteria were here long before us (and will be here long after) and we have always been exposed to them, nothing could be more natural. Regular, low-level exposures train the immune system and allow it to resist disease.

Think of it in terms of developing an antidote to something, you have to have a sample of the original to understand it and develop a counter agent on some principle. Without getting too technical about it, the immune system does the same thing when developing antibodies.

 

[asecin]

yeh true. i still say tho that if i minimize my social activities i can be healthier :s

 

[peer.review]

Yes; I have a friend that never uses anti-bacterial products because he fears they'll put a damper on his immune system. Just like the old story of anti-biotic drugs causing mutant forms of viruses that cannot be killed with normal drugs...

Antibiotics do not affect viruses like the common cold. Most antibiotics work as disruptors of bacterial cell wall biosynthesis (B-Lactams, Vancomycin, Teicoplanin), disrupters of protein synthesis (Erythromycins, Tetracuclines, Aminoglycosides, Oxazolidinones) or as disruptors of DNA replication/repair (Flouroquinolones). Antibiotic resistance exists in nature (bacteria and fungi have been waging war against each other for a long time) but modern usage of antibiotics has increased evolutionary pressure on many strains of bacteria. Generally there are three major mechanisms of antibiotic resistance; 1) Bacteria produces enzymes (B-lactamases) that inactivate the antibiotic (B-lactams), 2) bacteria produces efflux pumps that remove antibiotic from the cytoplasm, and 3) bacteria gain resistance through the replacement or modification of the antibiotic target.

(All of the above can be found in "Antibiotics: Actions, Origins, Resistance" by Christopher Walsh).

TLDR: For most antibiotics you don't have to be worried about antibiotics increasing the virulence of viruses or making your immune system weaker.

 

[Jabberwocky]

^ Are sanitizers likely increasing resistant bacteria in your opinion, like MRSA? I've heard and read claims to that effect but haven't had a chance to try to research & sort it out. Your post makes me suspect you could have an informed opinion about the matter.

 

[peer.review]

I am only slightly knowledgeable about this topic because of my research interests (I am a sociologist at a major US medical research school and I study the political economy of biopharmaceuticals/therapeutics amongst other things). I believe that that hand sanitizers would NOT increase bacterial resistance because they these sanitizers are not target specific.

Most antibiotics work because they target the biochemical machinery of the bacteria. This is good for us because there are a lot of enzymes in bacterial biosynthesis that don't have counterparts in humans (cell wall biosynthesis for example). However, because antibiotics are target dependent it is relatively easy to disrupt the antibiotic by altering the structure of the drug to inhibit its capacity to hit the target (b-lactamases), get the drug out of the bacteria before it can hit the target (pumps) or just change the target. Hand sanitizers are not target specific and they work by creating a nasty environment for most bacteria. Thus hand sanitizers do not provide any particular evolutionary pressure towards changing these vulnerable targets.

However, it may be the case that hand santizers remove "good" or benign bacteria from your skin/environment and open up the possibility that other less benign bacteria can come in and colonize your skin. This is a separate problem from resistance but I think it is an important one that we must consider when designing public health policy.

Short story: I think general use of hand sanitizers where soap and water is not available is not problematic and should not increase bacterial resistance.

 

[dokomo]

yeh true. i still say tho that if i minimize my social activities i can be healthier :s

Sounds like an excuse to be introverted (which isn't even a bad thing necessarily, its alright to have a different personality)

 

[dokomo]

I am only slightly knowledgeable about this topic because of my research interests (I am a sociologist at a major US medical research school and I study the political economy of biopharmaceuticals/therapeutics amongst other things). I believe that that hand sanitizers would NOT increase bacterial resistance because they these sanitizers are not target specific.

Most antibiotics work because they target the biochemical machinery of the bacteria. This is good for us because there are a lot of enzymes in bacterial biosynthesis that don't have counterparts in humans (cell wall biosynthesis for example). However, because antibiotics are target dependent it is relatively easy to disrupt the antibiotic by altering the structure of the drug to inhibit its capacity to hit the target (b-lactamases), get the drug out of the bacteria before it can hit the target (pumps) or just change the target. Hand sanitizers are not target specific and they work by creating a nasty environment for most bacteria. Thus hand sanitizers do not provide any particular evolutionary pressure towards changing these vulnerable targets.

However, it may be the case that hand santizers remove "good" or benign bacteria from your skin/environment and open up the possibility that other less benign bacteria can come in and colonize your skin. This is a separate problem from resistance but I think it is an important one that we must consider when designing public health policy.

Short story: I think general use of hand sanitizers where soap and water is not available is not problematic and should not increase bacterial resistance.

I completely agree, this is what the current research is trending toward.

This past year I was on a college campus and got the biggest kick out of these hand sanitizer dispensers they had plastered all over campus. The computer labs, classrooms everywhere. And all over them was "PREVENT THE SPREAD OF FLU, USE HAND SANITIZER!"

The kicker is, hand sanitizer does not "kill" the flu virus (or most viruses for that matter) and I learned this at that SAME institution of higher learning that was now spending tons of money in total ignorance.