Water water everywhere...

Thanks to http://www.treesforlife.org.uk/ for the image

A few weeks ago, a press release was... well, released... regarding bacteria found in snowflakes. Snowflakes require a nucleation point (a place where the crystal starts to grow). Often times is a spec of dust, but apparently more often, it's bacterial. Now, the study (LSU) found that the majority of the bacteria was Pseudomonas Syringae, a plant based rod-like bacteria. As far as we know, that won't make people sick.

However, who's to say that the bacteria (or viruses perhaps?) that make up the rest of rain and snow isn't the kind that will? WAIT! STOP! Go out, stick out your tongue, catch a snowflake and enjoy! I will the next time there is a snowstorm! Go out and sing in the rain! I'm certainly NOT ranting like some paranoid schizophrenic that everything that touches us will make us sick.

But... stop and think for a minute. Countless numbers of droplets of water fall to the earth in every rainstorm. And, without a doubt, every time there is a rainstorm SOMEONE goes outside without an umbrella and catches a cold. Why? Because getting wet makes you sick? OH NO, STOP SHOWERING! Of course not. But it's certainly possible, in my humble opinion, that somewhere on your body, during the rainstorm, enough bacteria/viruses fell on your skin to activate your immune system - making you feel sick (i.e. the runny nose, etc.). Now with your immune system already vulnerable, perhaps here comes the rest of the cold.

Or maybe, the fact that in rain storms we tend to stay inside more, just allows that bacteria to incubate and get us sick. Or Both. (Or Neither - how's that for a disclaimer?)

This seems to be the same rationale against people who think that going outside in the cold without a jacket will get you a cold. An old mother's legend. There is no reason to think that a chilly day will make you sick just by standing in it for a few minutes. Staying inside with lots of people has a better chance of that - cough cough. But those snowflakes... with their little bacteria inside... might just help the process get started.

Am I right? Probably not. Am I going to stop going out in the rain or snow? Definitely not. But its sometimes interesting to think about our world around us and how we never know what exactly gave you the sniffles. Especially as my wife and I sit here fighting our fevers and sore throats, I wonder who it was that gave it us.

Just a thought.