HOW WE CATCH COLD.

Hokitika Guardian, 20 March 1926, Page 4

HOW WE CATCH COLD.

(Hliysician in “Daily Mail.)

Tn these days everyone seems to be just catching or just getting over a cold ; and, of course, lie wonders bowlie caught it. The. truth is that microbes cause colds; (bills do not. The patient who says lie contracted a (hill was already infected by the “cold” microbe when lie first complained of feeling chilly. Man versus germ is a lilclnng contest. You “catch bold” liecau.se, lor a time, tho germ wins a. victory. The deeply rooted popular belief that colds and catarrhs are directly due to a damp, chilly climate is lalse. Arctic explorers never catch colds, oven during the most inclement weather, until they open up baggage that lias been collecting germ-laden dust since it was stored at their port of departure. Onlv when this dust is added to tho air ‘ breathed do c olds, catarrhs, and inlluen/.a. become rampant. During J lie winter months doors and windows are kept dosed too constantly. Fresh air, t ho strongest cneinv ol the common cold, is excluded. s„„n accumulates in hadlv ventilated houses, offices, public buildings, and !on vevances. The latest medical ie-s-areilos prove that dust, particular v household dust, is largely responsible j„|. |he onset of catarrhs and colds.

V o-erm-invasion is the direct cause of' “catching cold.” The invading armv contains the Micrococcus ( alarrhalis and hosts of other microbes such as streptococci, staphyloccci. am

pneumococci. .. . . These germs lodge in the huiug membra no of the nose and threat. Here they set up inllainination. I ueii poisons enter the system and bring on the characteristic symptoms.

in health the natural resistance ol the body repels a germ invasion. \\ hen his resistance is weak and you ate feeling out of sorts the germs gam a sure 'footing. This condition ' s Induced bv: (1) Fatigue from over-ex-ertion. physical or mental: (2) lack of fresh air during work or recreation indoors; (it) wearing insufficient clothing in wintry weather and getting wet I'eei owing l" boots not being damp-proof; (I ) a "run-down" state of eeucral health due to illness, worry, or other mental crisis; and (•">) not keeping physically lit in tvinlei open-air exercise. Isolation of all early csi.ses:—tor the complaint is infectious—and the intelligent use of antiseptic gnrg.es, sprat s, and done lies would go a long wav towards banishing the outbreaks of the common cold that occur rteit winter. '