He cold and the flu they are diseases that children usually get when temperatures drop. The cold itself is not a reason to get the disease, but it is true that infections occur more frequently in autumn and winter. The question we will try to answer is: Why in the cold are there more colds and flu?.
A single cause has not been determined, but factors that seem to predispose to more infections during the coldest months of the year. The cold is not a cause in itself but favors the spread of viruses They cause these diseases. That is why we will have to heed the grandmother's advice and shelter the children very well before leaving home.
Before listing these factors, we will explain in more depth what colds and flu are, which although they are often confused are different diseases, both caused by viruses, and the symptoms they cause.
Cold or cold
He cold or cold It is a mild viral infection of the upper respiratory system, very contagious, caused mainly by two types of viruses: rhinovirus and coronavirus.
Symptoms last between three and ten days and is characterized by sneezing, runny nose, headache, runny nose and congestion, watery eyes, itching, pain or phlegm in the throat, cough, tiredness and a feeling of malaise. There is no fever, or if there is one, it is very low. This is the main difference with the flu, which is high fever.
The cold is not cured with medicines. Antibiotics are contraindicated for both cold and flu, as they are diseases caused by viruses and not by bacteria.
The flu, flu or influenza
It is common to confuse the cold with the flu, but they are different diseases. The flu, flu or influenza It is an infection caused by influenza virus It mainly affects the respiratory tract and is easily spread, with young children being the main transmitters of the virus.
It is one of the most frequent diseases and can suffer several times during the year. The symptoms are high fever (more than 38.5 degrees), headache, cough and mucus (initially dry cough and congestion that later evolves into productive cough), in some cases breathing beeps (wheezing), malaise, pain muscle and sometimes abdominal pain accompanied or not by vomiting. It is common in children that there is loss of appetite and irritability.
It requires a lot of care as it can get complicated and become a more serious disease such as pneumonia.
Why with the cold are there more colds and flu?
Contact with other children in enclosed spaces
As we said before, it is not the cold itself, but the low temperatures make the winter months children go by many hours in contact with other children in enclosed spaces, especially children who go to kindergartens and schools. They are true breeding grounds.
Then the children go to their homes and spread the disease to their siblings, parents, cousins or other children with whom they play outside of school. It is inevitable that a multiplication of the virus will occur causing more infections. Of course, the infection does not occur if there is no infectious agent. That is, the child has to have contact with the virus for it to be contagious.
During the coldest and wettest times of the year we tend to be closer together in closed places for longer. It has been proven that, in places where there is no spring-summer-autumn-winter but a dry and a wet season, the incidence of such infections is higher during the wet season, probably for this reason.
There are more cold resistant viruses
A research team from the United States discovered a few years ago that viruses are covered by a fatty material that hardens like a gel protecting them in the cold. This coating melts on contact with the high temperatures of the respiratory tract, causing the outer layer to disappear and the virus infects the cells.
This resistant elastic layer around the virus that forms in cold temperatures offers the protection that is needed to pass from person to person, so the probability of infection increases as it gets colder. It is even so robust that it can resist certain detergents.
Cold noses
This factor is very curious. Surely many of you, like me, have a habit of touching the tip of your children's nose as if it were a kind of thermometer. If it is too cold, it is an alarm signal.
Behind this gesture is a scientific explanation. Apparently, when exposed to low temperatures The body tends to withdraw blood from the “expendable areas,” such as the nose. Hence, when it is cold, the first thing that cools is the hands, nose, feet, etc. If two people have a rhinovirus (from a cold) in their nose, the likelihood of the virus thriving and spreading is greater in the person exposed to the cold than in the person who is not.
Due to the lower blood flow there is a lower presence of leukocytes and a greater ease of virus expansion.
When it is cold, the cilia (small hairs) and the nasal mucous membranes, the natural defense system that we have in the nose, lose mobility, which prevents them from controlling the passage of microorganisms which therefore penetrate deeper into the body.
Other factors that cause children to have more colds and flu in winter
To these three that we explain, we must add other factors associated with cold and flu such as household pollution that occurs in homes in winter because of less ventilation, environmental dryness and sudden temperature changes.
He fatigue It also seems to be related. According to studies, it can influence the reaction of the immune system to infection.
Brief recommendations
We have tried to find scientific answers to why with the cold there are more colds and flu. Therefore, knowing some of the factors that predispose children and adults (I say some because surely science will find new causes), what is in our hands is to try to prevent, as far as possible, contagion.
The main recommendations are: wash your hands frequently, wrap up well and ensure that the child is well asleep and well fed to prevent opportunistic viruses from attacking the organism of our children.
