They're learning. Evolving.

[roadrunnertwice]

I could swear that I remember, as a kid, getting sick and not being completely incapacitated. I mean, sure, there were fevers of 104 and bugs that had me puking eight times in a day, but getting a sniffle cold that left me loopy but entirely functional was not rare. I don't seem to get those anymore; it's always the muscle aches and the fevers and the gobs of mucus in the chest.

The most likely explanations for this are either:

• I'm misremembering what it was like to get sick as a kid...
• ...or I don't have a very accurate census of what kinds of sickness I catch these days.

Because honestly, who can keep track of that shit for 26 years. But every once in a while, I wonder if it's something weirder:

• Maybe I'm getting the same amount of nasty bugs but squashing the easy ones without having my nose clog up. (Hey, sweet.)
• Or maybe I'm regularly being hit harder by every bug I get. (Or else my immune system is overreacting more frequently, which is pretty much six of one to half a dozen of the other.)
• And maybe the bugs themselves have been getting objectively nastier.

Well, at least I don't get sinus infections or strep throat anymore. Still, I can't shake the feeling that if I was still in middle school I'd have just shrugged this virus off, instead of sleeping 15 hours and being useless for the rest of the day.

Comments

[gyladia.livejournal.com]

I vote for misremembering.
Getting sick as a kid was cool. You got to miss school and your mom pampered you. Unless you had my mom and she always said "It's mind over matter" annoyingly. But you still got to stay home.
Getting sick as an adult has no upsides.

[roadrunnertwice]

Getting sick as an adult has no upsides.

Sister, you said it.

[tomax.livejournal.com]

I'm casting a vote for overuse of low-dose antibiotics and excessive disinfectant usage, both breeding stronger bugs, and reducing our resistance by limiting exposure to the weak ones.

[zizz.livejournal.com]

i'm seconding the vote for antibiotic misuse (ie people not finishing the course when they start to feel better) leading to stronger bugs. but i've noticed in other ways too that as relatively young as i still am, i'm not as resilient and quick to heal from things as i was as a kid, so i think that's a big part of it too. kids' perspectives are different too. regardless, being sick sucks!

[roadrunnertwice]

(Dude, have you heard about antibiotic-resistant staph showing up in pig farms? Hello dystopian future!)

Yeah, being invincible was pretty nice. I kind of miss it.