Cold: Always that stupid cold!
Where does a cold come from?
Colds are mainly caused by viruses. These are pathogens that can only be recognised under a special microscope. There are more than 200 different cold viruses. You can catch them when someone with a cold sneezes or coughs and you inhale the tiny droplets. Viruses are also often found on objects such as door traps. If you touch them and then rub your eyes or touch your nose, they can get into your body.
What happens in the body?
Once the viruses have entered your body, you don't automatically catch a cold. Your body's defence system - the immune system - often manages to fight them off immediately. However, sometimes this doesn't work, for example if there are too many viruses at once. Then they multiply so much in your nose, throat and the bronchial tubes of your lungs that you become ill. The typical cold symptoms such as sniffling, sneezing or coughing are annoying, but they mean that your immune system is now ramping up and fighting the viruses. You will usually be fit again after ten days at the latest.
- Cold alone does not cause a cold. However, when you are cold, the blood vessels in the mucous membranes in your nose, mouth and throat contract. As a result, they are less well supplied with blood and fewer defence cells reach them. Our defence against viruses can therefore actually be weaker when we are cold.
- Acute respiratory infections are triggered by various viruses.
- The Robert Koch Institute provides more information on this: Acute respiratory diseases
- The website of the Federal Office of Public Health always provides an up-to-date overview of cases of infection and illness in Switzerland.
What helps?
This way you can reduce the risk of infection:
- Wash your hands! And do so thoroughly with soap and water - for at least 30 seconds. Also avoid touching your face, as this can spread viruses to the mucous membranes.
- Keep your distance! Try to avoid close contact with people who have a cold.
- Strengthen your defences! Your immune system works better if you regularly eat healthy fruit and vegetables, get plenty of exercise in the fresh air and get enough sleep. And if you do get infected? It's no big deal, schoolchildren catch an average of six colds a year. The best thing to do is to rest well and drink plenty of fluids, then your immune system will quickly get the viruses under control again. And to make sure you don't infect anyone else, keep your distance from others and wear a mask.
