The flu is the worst it has been in many years. The news said that it may be widespread clear into April. When you are feeling well and strong, you tend not to think too much about your immune system. Once you contract a flu or cold you may wonder why you got it to begin with. Last year I had an upper respiratory virus. I hadn’t been sick in three years prior. This year I boosted my vitamin C, zinc and a few other supplements beginning in November! I did have my flu shot. So far so good.
While washing hands is beneficial, it won’t stop someone from sneezing or coughing near you. And this is the way you contract viral or bacterial infections. If someone sneezes or coughs without covering their mouths or nose the germs spread far and wide.
There are nearly 200 different viruses that are responsible for cold symptoms and are passed through physical contact with the virus or by breathing exhaled viruses, from an infected person.
Bacteria and viruses, parasites and a whole bunch of nasties have the potential to make us very ill. Fortunately, most of us don’t get sick that often. This is because your body is able to defend itself against these potential invaders with several layers of defense mechanisms, otherwise known as your immune system. This is the benefit of a strong immune system. Fortifying it with exercise, good nutrition and supplementation is necessary.
Not only is your immune system designed to seek out and destroy disease-causing bugs, it also remembers bugs it’s met so they are swiftly dealt with when they return.
Dr. Penny Burns, a Sydney-based GP and spokesperson for the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, says, “When the body senses there is a virus or other infections, such as bacterial, the body reacts to try and destroy the foreign invaders.”
Viruses can’t live alone, they come into the body and circulate in the blood looking to migrate into human cells where they can replicate and grow and increase in numbers.
“As the virus goes on to multiply inside your body you can get symptoms of an infection.”
It is at this point that the body needs to ramp up the way it fights the infection and activates other parts of the complex immune system. This includes activating other types of white cells (B-cells and T-cells).
“B-cells make protein antibodies that attach to the virus and label it as foreign for other cells to destroy.” Dr. Burns said.
She said that T-cells work to clear our body of infections: “They recognize infected cells and destroy them.”
Dr. Burns says, “Fever is the body’s response to the virus. Increasing body temperature can inactivate the virus.”
When you get an infection, as well as white cells your body also activates other systems including cytokines (chemical messengers) and the complement system (a series of proteins designed to kill infections). These trigger inflammation and can cause symptoms like redness, warmth, swelling, pain. So your runny nose is actually caused by a local inflammatory response to the virus.
You can have an infection and not actually have any symptoms. This is known as a subclinical infection.
While people do get flu and colds mostly in the winter months when temperatures are very cold. Researchers now know that breathing colder fall and winter air because it is colder air that affects the ability of the cells in your nose to react to an invading virus and thus may increase your risk of developing symptoms.
Recent research has demonstrated that while viruses trigger your symptoms, cold weather has a significant impact on whether you “catch” a cold. People can exhale the cold virus for at least 24 hours before they become sick.
A cold passes through direct physical contact with one of nearly 200 viruses that can trigger symptoms. Once inside your body the virus attaches itself to the lining of your throat or nose, triggering your body’s immune system to send white blood cells. If you have antibodies to this virus in the past, the fight doesn’t last long. If virus is new, your body sends reinforcements to fight, inflaming your nose and throat. With so much of your body’s resources aimed at fighting the cold, you are left feeling tired and miserable.
Dry air in the cold months may dry your mucous membranes, making the symptoms of a cold much worse.
A weakened immune system such as in a child where their immune systems are still developing, others have compromised immune system, or other chronic illnesses or nutritional deficiencies. Lack of sleep and psychological stressors are two common factors that may weaken your immune system.
Only bacterial viruses can be treated with antibiotics. Antibiotics don’t cure viral infections.
