I haven’t been to a warm place except California in the summer one time. As you know, people get colds every winter, at least here in the PNW. But during summer time, it’s virtually impossible to catch it as no one has it. So if the weather increases the frequency of colds, does that mean the people who live in hot places are highly unlikely to get it?

21 comments
  1. I don’t know the actual epidemiology, but warm places in China that are fairly warm year round incubate the flu we all get in the fall and winter during the summer/fall.

  2. I live in the PNW and have had many colds in the summer, so I think they do still circulate, especially among people who spend a lot of time around other people indoors.

  3. It’s less likely, but coronaviruses (which are what make up the yearly flu, there are multiple variants and one usually winds up as the “dominant” strain in any given year) are something you can catch at any time.

    You’re just more likely to in the winter because the conditions are better for the virus to reproduce.

  4. Yup, I live in Los Angeles. Not working in an office any more helps. But during flu season, the office used to be a nightmare. Being in a hot place doesn’t directly effect it. It’s not as if 70 degree weather sterilizes things.

    Transmission is largely driven by people being packed into close spaces indoors. And people are more likely to do that in cooler weather. But, school schedules are a big factor independent of weather. Kids go to school starting in the fall, stick their fingers up each others noses, and bring diseases home so everybody is sick by winter. Fall/winter are also a major travel time because of the holidays.

  5. Yes, absolutely. I have had the sniffles all week, my wife and older son finally caught it and it tore them apart. It was a high of 68 degrees today in NorCal.

    Also, for like 5 years in a row I got a cold or flue sometime in June so you absolutely can get sick then, too.

  6. Wait…do you really think that cold weather causes colds? Um…

    So, colds spread more in colder weather because people are indoors more, with less ventilation because windows are closed.

    You can catch a cold, or any virus, any time of year.

  7. Yes we do. Although I find since I have lived here that length & severity for me (for common cold) are shortened due to the surplus of sunshine and I’m consistently outside doing some kind of activity, not stuck indoors for 5 months.

    I haven’t had any illness beyond 2 colds and the ‘rona (first and only time) since 2021 so that that for what you will.

  8. Yes. People still travel and it does get chilly/rainy here which condenses people and thus it’s easier to catch colds.

  9. Yes. Disease burden is higher in every state and frankly every country with hotter and wetter weather. Less heat means fewer vectors available to live and spread disease. Flu and coronavirus spreads faster in winter simply because people are inside with one another in close quarters, typically, and the constant change from cold, wet to warm dry wears down your immune system slightly.

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