No Mom, Cold Weather Won't Make You Sick

Kids never seem to want to dress appropriately for any occasionor at least mine dont.

So we say what we need to say to get them to put their hats on, right?

Youll catch your death of cold!

But can youreallycatch a cold from cold weather?

Colds are triggered by viruses, so no.

But can cold weather make you moresusceptibleto those viruses?

Well, thats a little more complicated.

But probably still no.

Colds are triggered by viruses

Colds are infectious diseases triggered by germsspecifically viruses.

So, no, chilly weather cannot cause a cold all by itself.

There is more than one virus that can cause a cold, though.

Putting a hat on when you go outside is not on the list of preventive measures.

But a lot of things are different in winter than in summer that affect the spread of respiratory viruses.

Cold viruses spread more easily this wayjust like COVID does.

Another factor is that cold air carries less moisture than warm air.

(That warm air is often just the cold, dry air from outside, warmed up.)

There arestill more hypothesesfor why respiratory viruses, including colds and flu, are more common in winter.

He caught a cold as a direct result of that, it developed into pneumonia, and he died.

So how is that possible?

First off, its worth being suspicious of that story because of how neat andconvenientit seems.

The man died because of the consequences of his own hubris.

But did he really catch a cold, and was it really because of the hatless speech?

Harrison definitely didnt catch a cold after his speech.

He only started feeling unwell three weeks later.

A cough appeared later, a few days before he died.

So why does everybody think he died of pneumonia?

But, sure, lets blame Harrison for not wearing a hat in the cold.