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Q: My annual summertime 'cold' again
I'm recovering from a sore throat and nasty mucus. My wife and baby still have it bad. They call it the 'cold', but I'm guessing it's not a real cold. It strikes us in the Sichuan summers. My first year i had bronchitis from it, last year my cold was awful; made a new job far worse than need be. This year I'm hoping to be more resistent to it.
Does anyone know what this summer virus is?
I believe that air-conditioning exascerbates the spread. my wife is hesitant to use it in our room, but i recently cleaned the filters, and afterwards we kept it on over night. That's when our sore throats started. And I don't believe it was from dryness.
An air-conditioning unit will suck in air from outside, and blow the cooled air into your room. While you are relaxing with low metabolism, the aircon exposes you to far too much air, all containing virus (or bacteria).
A rotating electric fan is preferable when you sleep. It circulates the air in your room, dissipating the heat mechanically. You are not exposed to aditional air from outdoors. Chinese doctors correctly advise against aircon units while sick, though I hazard a guess that their reasoning is different than mine. Chinese will traditionally shun coldness, so it's the cooling aspect that local doctors see as the problem. I believe that rotating fans keep the air contact localised. That wouldn't be seen as a positive by people with a 'fresh air' mantra.
Anyone else suffering from these annual sniffles? Comment and commiserate!
9 years 38 weeks ago in Health & Safety - China
I also get regular colds - currently have a slight sore throat.
definitely not from air-conditioning, so i suspect it is my hay-fever playing up again: it differs from year to year
I have asked myself the question as to why i am not 100% well despite eating fresh healthy food, exercising regularly etc. ?
I don't expect to be well 100% of the time, because there are many factors in play:
- level of stress, which lower your immune system
- level of air pollution
- are my allergies (hay-fever) playing up for any reason
- end of semester exhaustion kicking in (i always manage to keep going until then)
- exposure to other people in airports/planes for prolonged times (24 hours or more)
I know this is normal and just chill out for a couple of days to recharge.
'Drink hot water' 
coineineagh:
From the sound of it, you get enough exposure from traveling and other outdoor acivities. That's roughly equivalent to letting an aircon unit expose you to outdoor air overnight.
Aircon is indeed a possible cause : filters are supposed to washed monthly, you would be lucky to see them cleaned once on 5 years. Aircon use water as a coolant, and that water is haven for bacteria.
A fan cool you by making your sweat evaporation more efficient, nothing favoring infectious agents 
I get the usual cold because of air conditioned interiors VS crazy hot exterior here in Guangdong, the instant changing in temperatures is a good way to get sick, but without the ACs I would probably die of dehydration or from the heat.
Two years I got really sick after coming to China in February, my nose ran like crazy after that, it still runs, sometimes clears for a few days, sometimes runs like a river. I think exposure to something triggered an allergy with me. I don't know what caused it or what bothers me, I think dust does. Chemicals like formaldehide can have this effect. I use a steroid nasal spray but my nose never completely clears up. You are more likely to have allergies in summer and China does have bad air quality. I checked this once, I think Beijing was 600, Guilin was 170, home was 17..
You're not supposed to keep air con on overnight. That's probably what causes it.
coineineagh:
I've done it all spring up till now, with no ill effects. But this summer bug hit me like clockwork. I already decided to switch to electric fan, anyway.
Set your AC to the dehumidfier mode...it will still blow cool air but it's recirculating (sans mousiture) from the room.
