Dr. Lynn Cates
Specializing in pediatric infectious diseases and childhood immunizations.
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 Ask Dr. Cates
Cold(s) and Immunity | | | QUESTION | | | Dear Dr. Cates,
Does getting cold once in a while help build the immune system?— Concerned Mom in San Jose, California | | | ANSWER |
October 9, 2000 | | | Dear Concerned Mom,
At first I thought that you were asking if getting a cold helps build the immune system -- then I realized that you were actually asking about being cold. Since I'm frequently asked both questions, I hope that you won't mind if I answer the two of them here.
First, just being cold doesn't seem to do anything to build, or harm, the immune system. One common misconception is that exposure to cold or wet weather increases a person's chances of contracting a respiratory infection -- how many times have you heard someone advise a child to "bundle up or you'll catch pneumonia"? However, the fact is that it takes a germ of some sort (usually a virus) to make someone sick. I think that since these infections are more common in cold weather, a lot of people mistakenly assumed that the nasty weather itself caused the illnesses.
On the other hand, although we never like to see our little ones sniffling and coughing, colds and many other kinds of infections generally do help people develop a degree of immunity. The more kinds of infections a person has had, the more they are protected.
Children in daycare, preschool, or early elementary school provide a classic example of how people build up their immune systems. When children are exposed to other children on a regular basis, they get a new infection about once a month for the first couple of years. Then the rate of illness starts to slow down because they've built up some level of immunity to many common infections.
People continue to get sick throughout their lives because there are many, many causes of infections and it's impossible to become immune to all of them. Also, having had a particular infection doesn't automatically guarantee protection -- sometimes people don't develop the usual degree of immunity and fall prey to that particular bacteria, virus, or other infectious agent again and again.
— by Lynn Cates, M.D., F.A.A.P. |
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