sickness (no, not me this time)

[arethinn]

How is it that everyone but me gets the flu sooner or later? Despite almost certain exposure, to my knowledge I have never contracted influenza. If I have, it has been so mild that I have mistaken it for a cold (and I have been wrong all this time thinking that nasal congestion was not a symptom of the flu). How does this work?

Comments

[silentbob037.livejournal.com]

It sounds like you have a really strong immune system to me.

[arethinn]

You might think that, but in school I used to get sick about once a year (almost like clockwork - every winter). Now I catch something about four times a year.

[silentbob037.livejournal.com]

I'm sort of the same way. I get a cold at least once a year. It changes from year to year but I always tend to get sick just that once.

[zaecus.livejournal.com]

How often do you catch colds? Colds and flus really aren't all that different, and your immune system might just be particularly adept at fighting off this family of viruses, so it's entirely possible that some of the colds you had were actually the flu.

I've had the flu several times, but the symptoms are like a bad cold instead of something actually debilitating like I've seen others suffer through. Sure, I'll whine, but I'm not really that bad off.

[arethinn]

How often do you catch colds?

Used to be about once a year. Now more like four or five times a year. However, in my work I now handle far more items touched by other people in a day than I did in school, by a long shot. I try to wash my hands and use hand sanitizer and stuff, but it only goes so far.