Baby it’s cold outside, but is it diseased?

It’s pretty much mid winter and most of Australia is feeling it. Some of us more so than others, in fact Australia is in the grip of a flu outbreak with the number of people suffering from the flu four times higher than at the same time last year. According to Belinda Tasker from The Daily Telegraph “experts believe the rise could be linked to the sudden deluge of wet weather and floods earlier this year when there was an unusually high number of flu cases recorded. Particularly high rates of influenza have hit NSW, Queensland and South Australia with the H1N1 virus, popularly known as swine flu, and influenza B the most common strains”

My friend Amanda is Commissioner of the Spencer Police. She’s convinced the minute anyone steps outside between June 1 and the end of August without a singlet, spencer or skivvy under whatever they’re wearing, they’re begging for the flu to come stay at their place. A child arriving at school with wet hair is a child whose parents don’t love them, and the road to pneumonia is walked in bare feet.

There are, of course, people who disagree with Amanda. These people are called doctors and they say colds and flu are viruses, which are no more common in cold weather than warm. The reason we catch more bugs in winter is because we are holed up together so the germs spread. Kids are less likely to catch a cold playing footy in the sleet than they are at watching Harry Potter at the local Megaplex (it isn’t called the Deathly Hallows for nothing).

I’m with the doctors. I don’t like cold weather but I don’t believe it’s inherently dangerous. We cancelled a camping trip last month because the forecast was dire. Gale force winds, freezing nights and torrential rain. Call me a wuss, but that’s not fun. Lots of people said, ‘Smart move, you don’t want everyone getting sick.’ Of course we don’t, but I was more concerned about the amount of laundry I’d have to do.

Still, there’s something er, chilling, about watching your five year old come down the stairs in her favourite summer nightie when the dog is breathing mist. Even though I don’t believe cold causes colds, as a mother I’m hard-wired to say, ‘Get back upstairs and put your dressing gown and slippers on. You’ll catch your death.’ What I really mean is, ‘I’m cold, so put more clothes on.’

What’s your thinking on winter ills? Are you a singlet soldier or a fresh air fan? Any preventatives or remedies you’d like to share?