Am I More Likely To Get A Cold Or The Flu If I Have Kids?

Dr. Jon Abramson answers the question: 'Chance Of Cold Or Flu If I Have Kids?'

Jon Abramson, M.D., Prof. and Chairman, Dept. of Pediatrics, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center

September 25, 2008, 10:04 AM ET

1 min read

— -- Question: Am I more likely to get a cold or the flu if I have kids?

Answer: You're actually more likely to get both if you have children. Colds are caused by many different viruses which can circulate especially in daycares and in school systems. While the flu is due to only one virus, influenza virus, it also more frequently circulates in daycares and school systems. Indeed, there's been a study in Japan where, at one point, Japan was immunizing all their children and it showed very nicely that when they did that, there was much less flu disease in the adult population, especially in the households.

So, it's pretty clear that you can introduce flu mainly through children into a family situation and that's the most common route.

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