Mr. Athena came down with a cold a week or so ago. I did all the normal things to protect myself - washed my hands a bunch, avoided kissing him and/or sharing food or drink; hell, we even didn’t sleep in the same bed much because he was up coughing and such and decided to stay in the guest room so I could get some sleep.
Nevertheless, a week later, here I am with a cold. It seems like clockwork to me. No matter how hard we try, if one of us gets sick, the other follows a week later.
I’m not sure what’s worse, being the one with the initial cold, or being the one sitting around going “Yup, next week schedule in “be sick” cuz I know it’s happening.”
Bonus question: his cold came after a business trip, spent in an office with lots of other people with who-knows-what kinds of sickness. Also seems inevitable in that situation to come home and not end up sick a few days later. True?
Not always. My SO is rather susceptible to infections - colds, sinus infections, ear infections, chest infections, the whole lot of them - and I get them a lot less frequently than she does. On the other hand, every cold I get I’ve given to her, so clearly my immune system is somewhat stronger than hers. I don’t do anything specific to avoid catching them from her - hell, we share the same bed and nothing is going to stop her getting her good night smooch, so there must be some inherent difference there. She takes a lot more care when I’m sick, but it doesn’t really seem to help all that much.
No, not inevitable. Somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of the time for us, and my wife is like another poster in that she’s not going to pass up on kissing just because of a few germs.
We don’t do a lot of separate traveling, but I haven’t noticed much connection there. I do see some correlation between sicknesses we share with our friends and co-workers, but it’s still not inevitable.
For what it’s worth, we usually get our flu shots every year.
Last month, I came down with a little bug that very quickly had me lying on the sofa, groaning in misery and waiting for the gentle release of Death’s sweet kiss. Mrs. SMV dragged me off the an urgent care center where the doc walked in and said, “You have the flu. You’re not going to work next week”.
We took prophylactic measures - I wore face masks, stayed out of the kitchen and our bedroom, and we both liberally and frequently used hand sanitizer. After a week I was fine. She never did come down with it.
Since I travel so much for my work - and have dogs - I acquired a roommate. I can remember wondering whether or not we would trade germs during the cold and flu season, as we use the same living room, entertainment room and kitchen. I always used to get sick whenever my husband got sick (and vice versa). However, due to frequent hand washing and Lysol sanitizing wipes, there was no germ transfer between myself and the roommate.
So clearly, after this highly scientific study, it’s sex that causes colds and flu.
Same here. My wife and I don’t get sick very often (in fact, I can’t remember the last time my wife was sick), but I’ve gotten a bug about once every year or two, and though we don’t do anything to minimize germ transfer or contact, she’s never gotten sick from me.
Ms. P gets it when I don’t, and more rarely the reverse happens. Often kids get something and neither parent does. I’ve worked with kids for a long time, and seem to have built up plenty of immunity.
Like many others who have chimed in, we take no precautions when one of us is sick, and it is very unusual for one of us to infect the other. We don’t get sick that often, either.
For me its about a 50/50 coin flip if she gets one first. If I come down with the cold first, its about a 25% chance she’ll get one. I don’t work on not spreading it any more than she does; she just doesn’t catch stuff as easily as I do.
If it’s a strain I haven’t had before, I’m almost certainly going to catch it, regardless of household precautions. I suppose that if I were notified by phone and left the state for the duration, I might escape (the cold, if not the wrath of an abandoned SO).
Of course, living arrangements don’t have much to do with it. My generally reasonable immune system is absolute crap with colds; I catch every cold that passes by. A few days ago, I spent about 10 minutes in line near a croupy toddler. I never came within 5 feet of him and touched nothing that he touched (or that his mother, who was holding him, touched). I haven’t been near anyone else with noticeable cold symptoms. One incubation period later, I have a nasty chest cold developing.
The one upside is that the number I catch has been dropping off in recent years. I’m hoping that I’ve acquired some protection against most of the usual pool.
