It’s autumn and that includes a concert of coughing, sneezing, and smelling like fallen leaves. Because it’s getting colder and we’re largely ignoring mom’s good advice on coats and scarves? “Not at all,” says virologist Mark Van Ranst. “All viruses wrong.”
No matter what your mom claims, colds aren’t caused by hypothermia. “Because of a whole group of respiratory viruses,” says Professor Mark van Ranst. They don’t really keep up with the myriad different genres in his Rega Institute. “Although we sometimes unintentionally find it when we’re examining samples for coronavirus or influenza.” These cold viruses are very subtle: they appear around the same time every year.
“The third week of September or the first Monday of October: the cold season begins every year,” says virologist Mark van Ranst. “This is not a coincidence, but the result of children returning to school and infecting each other. Then they light their parents at home and in turn light their co-workers. This process takes about three to four weeks: at the end of September, early October, the first wave of colds becomes a reality .every year again.”
Watch: Virologists warn this winter of a combination of the flu epidemic and new waves of Corona:
The cold is not a disaster, but it is annoying: Can’t we – just as against the coronavirus – open the windows, if it’s not the temperature? “Now if it ain’t raining, but in a good month when it’s cold and energy prices are still high?” Very sick or broke. Then take out the CO2 counters again? “You can do that. These CO2 metrics indicate when you start taking each other’s breath and therefore each other’s viruses. They are not only useful specifically for COVID-19, but are useful for any virus that spreads through the air.”
What does it help? “Good ventilation of course. The lockdown has also helped combat the common cold, but that’s not something to look forward to immediately because of all the social and economic consequences. Ah, cold is part of life, isn’t it! “
There are colds again: “A healthy lifestyle protects you, but there is another effective remedy” (+)
See also: How do you notice the difference between influenza and corona?
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