A summer cold is an illness caused by a virus infection located in the nose and leads to symptoms such as runny nose, sneezing, sore throat, cough, headache, fever, etc. which are a result of the body’s response to the infection. Does that sounds an awful lot like the winter cold? That’s because they are the same thing! The only difference is the season that it occurs in.

Why differentiate between summer and winter colds?

• Winter colds tend to occur more frequently, so when you get a summer cold you take notice.
• In the winter it’s easier to snuggle up in bed with some chicken soup and relax and recover. In the summer you want to be doing all your activities, going on vacation, and playing outdoors. So a cold can really get in your way.
• People often think winter weather causes more colds, so they are somewhat surprised when they catch a summer cold. This is a myth, there are other factors at play which lead to more colds in the winter.

Who is more likely to catch a summer cold?

• People traveling via commercial airplanes — Close contact with hundreds of potentially contaminated people can increase your likelihood of catching a cold. Also traveling to foreign countries can expose you to new viruses that your body isn’t immune to yet.
• People with allergies — The mucous lining of your nose has already been disrupted so it is predisposed to infection.
• People in an air conditioned environment — Air conditioning units cool the air and remove moisture from it as well. This dries out the protective mucus lining of the nose and keeps it cold. Both those conditions make it more likely to have a virus take hold.

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Image from commoncold.org

Once the cold virus enters the adenoid area (a lymph gland) it attaches to cells that are found there. Once the virus is taken inside the cell, it begins to start an infection and produce more virus particles. The infected cell eventually dies and ruptures, releasing newly made cold virus to infect other cells in the nose and start the process over again. From the time a cold virus enters the nose, it takes 8-12 hours for the viral reproductive cycle to be completed and for new cold virus to be released in nasal secretions.

Cold symptoms occur due to the body’s response to the infection. Around the same time the cold virus is released in nasal secretions, the body responds by activating parts of the immune system and some nervous system reflexes. These triggers cause the typical cold symptoms such as runny nose, sneezing, coughing, etc.

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