Cold weather does NOT make you sick - WICU12/WSEE Erie, PA News, Sports, Weather and Events

Our cold weather comes at a time of a flu outbreak all over the country.  But you do not have to be afraid of the weather. 

Forty-eight states have seen a serious outbreak of flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control.  You would think a cold snap like this would make more people sick.  But that's not the case.

Around noon, Monday, the temperature was frigid 19-degrees.  Light snow blew around.  Yet people were not bothered to be outside.  13abc reporter Bill Hormann talked with Ruth Hancock and asked, "Aren't you afraid of going out in the cold weather like this, make you sick?"  She replied, "No, No. Feeling good, feeling good.  This is what Toledo's all about."

We also talked with David Hopson, who was just wearing a shirt in the blustery, subfreezing weather.  "No jacket?," we asked.  "No, I'm tough as nails, or stupid," Hopson replied.

Believe it or not, he's not stupid.

Being outside in blustery, snowy, frigid air *does not* make you sick.

Brian Dick is the Director of Infection Control for Promedica.  He told 13abc, "The cold temperature doesn't cause the virus to appear.  Colds, flus; those are all from viruses."

And we transmit those viruses by being indoors and coughing and sneezing on each other and by touching objects and people with our germy hands.

But on this inauguration day, we got to thinking about two other presidents.
 
What happened on inauguration day 18-41 in the death of William Henry Harrision.

He spoke for 2-hours in the frigid weather without a coat, hat or gloves.  Two days later, he got caught in the rain.  A month later, he was dead.   But the weather did not kill Harrision.

Brian Dick surmises, "Harrison had to have that bug to start with and my guess would be that he's already suffering from some respiratory disease and maybe the weather made him a little more susceptible at the time but the organism was already there."

Then there's the case of our first president, George Washington.  He caught pneumonia riding horseback around his plantation in the snow and freezing rain.   Two days later, *he* was dead.   Again, he probably had the virus first.

The best advice, according to Dick is, "stay dry, stay warm."

Cold weather can make you feel worse but it cannot make you sick.

So in a strange way, it's better to be outside than inside, if you bundle up.

But to keep from getting sick, sStay away from other people, wash your hands, stay warm, and see a doctor if necessary.

That way,  you'll avoid the fate of presidents Harrison and Washington.