Cold & Flu Fiction

I'm positive I'm not the only person whose mom said, "You'll get sick if you go out there with that wet hair!".  Well, it has been myth-busted.  You'll get the chills but not flu-like chills.  Colds are caused by viruses, and wet hair has no influence on your risk of coming into contact with one. It's a virus' ability to spread via respiratory droplets (say, from someone coughing or sneezing) that makes you susceptible to getting sick.

Cold air doesn't have an impact on whether you contract a cold or any other virus. A cold can be caught as easily as through one person talking to another—so long as those droplets come into contact with your nose, mouth, or eyes, not even your 75 layers of clothing can save you.

The Flu shot is a live virus that you're putting into your body to help it become immune to it.  Also, it takes two weeks to take effect, so if you happen to get sick during that time frame, it's really because you're not fully protected yet.

I was always told to drink LOTS of orange juice when I'm sick to help my immune system fight off any viruses.  Nothing has been proven to prevent or cure a cold.

This one was surprising for me.  Satying away from someone who is sick ONE way to avoid getting sick but it's not a foolproof strategy.  People can spread the flu before they even know they're sick, starting one day before symptoms develop and up to five to seven days after becoming sick.  Viruses can be transferred through hand-to-hand contact or contact with contaminated objects or surfaces.  So even if you're nowhere near a sick person, you can still contract a cold by touching something that has a virus on it and then touching your face.  Ahhh!