Wednesday 4th November

Almost every year I get a cold.  Sometimes a mild one, sometimes a terrible one –but I very rarely have a cold-free year.  The scientists tell us that these are caused by viruses, microbiological tiny life-forms that are complete parasites which spread from human to human and live entirely off their reluctant hosts.  Also most of the symptoms are caused by our own anti-bodies trying to rid us of these pesky interlopers.  In my humble experience it is a battle we, the humans almost always win, eventually.  However it usually takes a couple of weeks or so and though you know you will eventually get better it is pretty awful while it lasts.  All the medicines we take simply deal with, or attempt to mitigate the worst of, the symptoms; soothing a sore throat, drying a runny nose, easing aches and pains.  If we have a particularly bad cold then anti-biotics are prescribed, which again take a while to work.

But why do we get colds?  What possible use are they?  Except to benefit the manufacturers of tissues and cough mixture, I can see none.  But that is because we live in a World where, clever humans that we are, we expect there to be a reason for everything.  If you are Religious then it is all part of God’s Wonderful Plan, earthquakes, famine and cold viruses included.  If you are a pure Darwinian then it is the supremacy of the fittest; the most able cold viruses surviving to infect yet another unsuspecting person.

I can remember as a child the saying that no matter how clever scientists were, they still couldn’t cure the common cold.  Well, it’s still true today.  Almost daily we are regaled with medical breakthroughs, stem cell therapy, new cancer treatments – and yet we seem incapable of dealing with this most common and irritating of illnesses.  Scientists tell is that it is because the virus mutates very quickly and so no vaccine or flu-jab is ever really effective.  In fact a previous Government spent, or wasted you could say, a fortune on flu-viruses that were never used.

All I know, is that I am a few days in – feeling grotty and know that it will take a few more days to shrug off this most annoying of afflictions.  And that if I am lucky that will be it for this year, though I am sure to get another one next year.