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No one wants to catch the common cold, but it’s certainly better than a COVID-19 infection for more reasons than one.
With a cold, there’s no chance of developing long COVID, much less of a likelihood of severe illness and, according to recent research published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases, the common cold may actually protect you from a COVID-19 infection.
The six-month-long study was conducted by experts across the country, but doctors from National Jewish Health in Colorado led the research.
For the study, researchers collected a total of 10,493 nasal swabs from 1,156 people in the United States, both children and adults. Nasal swabs were collected every two weeks and then tested for 21 respiratory pathogens, including for COVID-19 via a PCR test.
Researchers found that people who had a rhinovirus infection in the past 30 days (rhinovirus is the virus that most often causes the common cold) were 48% less likely to develop a COVID-19 infection.
Children had more frequent rhinovirus infections than adults, and, thus, more antiviral protection that defended them against a COVID-19 infection. This may be one reason children get sick with COVID-19 less often than adults and, generally, have more mild illness, researchers wrote in the study.
For adults and children who did get sick with COVID-19 after having a cold, the amount of virus on the nasal swab was less than those who had COVID-19 but didn’t recently have a cold. A smaller viral load often means less severe symptoms, according to the study.
There are a few reasons a cold may offer some COVID-19 protection, experts told HuffPost.
“Some common colds are caused by coronavirus — not the novel strain that we’ve all dealt with during the pandemic, but other types of coronaviruses,” said Dr. Alexa Mieses Malchuk, a family physician in Pennsylvania who is not affiliated with the study.
“It certainly stands to reason that the immune system might recognize other coronaviruses as familiar, and therefore make it easier for the immune system to fight them,” she said.
While the coronaviruses that cause colds are, once again, not the same one that causes COVID-19, it would make sense that coronavirus infection would create some protection against COVID-19, Mieses Malchuk added.
“There’s another idea, which is that when you’ve had a lot of inflammation, just immune activity in a given tissue, it actually changes the way that tissue responds to subsequent challenges,” or subsequent infections, in this case, said Dr. Stuart Ray, a professor of medicine and infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Maryland who is also not affiliated with the study.
“And so the notion that if you’ve had frequent infections in your respiratory tree, that you might then be more resistant to infections, at least over the short term, like in the study, is plausible,” Ray said.
Just like how a sports team performs better when it gets in a lot of practice, “if your immune system just fought something, even if it wasn’t a different type of coronavirus, it might be better positioned to respond to a new infection like COVID-19,” said Mieses Malchuk.
All in all, the rhinovirus infections activated antiviral genes in the body that can go on to fight off other infections.
This study does have limitations. First, researchers tested nasal swabs, which can paint a partial picture of infection, but not a full one.
“We always have to remember when we look at things like the levels of the COVID virus in a nasal swab … that’s not the level of the virus in the lung or in the person’s body,” said Ray.
“So, we’re using the nasal swab as a surrogate, a placeholder, a peek at what might be happening in the body, but it’s not a true picture of that, so we have to be a little cautious about interpreting it,” Ray added.
Also, since nasal swabs were collected every two weeks, participants may have gotten sick and then recovered from viruses like COVID-19 and rhinovirus in that time frame. Meaning, there may have been infections and subsequent virus protections that weren’t accounted for by researchers.
This does not mean that you’re totally protected from COVID-19 if you’ve had a recent cold.
Now, this is not reason enough to expose yourself to someone with a cold.
“Just because you didn’t get SARS-CoV-2 doesn’t mean you’re healthier,” said Ray.
Having repeated infections and becoming more resistant to other viruses isn’t necessarily a good thing, Ray added.
You could develop asthma as a result of these infections, he noted, along with other complications.
“We don’t know in the long term whether this kind of immunity might be a good thing because you’re protected or whether it might have a downside as well,” Ray said.
“The other thing to note is, while this is exciting and interesting, the immune system and immune function is very complex, so I would hesitate to make any strong generalizations,” added Mieses Malchuk.
If you have questions about your immune system and your virus exposure, you should talk to your doctor, Mieses Malchuk noted.
But, there are things you can do that actually can protect you from getting COVID.
“We learned a lot of things during the last few years, and we’re still learning, but there are recommendations for the use of vaccines that we should follow, and vaccines are still a safer way to gain immunity to a virus than infection with that virus,” said Ray.
(Updated COVID shots for 2025-2026 are expected to be available soon. Yet, as changes continue to unfold at the Department of Health and Human Services, which is helmed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., exactly who is eligible for the shots and when is currently up in the air.)
In the meantime, it’s also a good idea to avoid people who are sick and to ventilate indoor spaces (open windows, use HEPA filters) if you’re in there with others, Ray said.
People who are immunocompromised or at risk of severe disease can consider wearing a high-quality N95 mask for additional protection, Ray said.
Olga Siletskaya via Getty Images
There are daily habits that can help you have a healthy immune system.
No one thing will totally protect you from coming down with a cold or COVID-19, but there are immune-system-boosting behaviors (read: not influencer-backed supplements) that can keep you well.
“What I tell people to kind of try to boost your immune system, you want to make sure that you’re getting sufficient amounts of sleep, you want to make sure that you’re minimizing your stress, or at least you’re managing your stress as best as possible,” said Mieses Malchuk.
You should avoid substances like alcohol, nicotine and other drugs, too, she said.
“You want to exercise regularly. We know for a fact that exercise also boosts immune function, and you want to make sure that you’re eating a lot of fruits, vegetables, foods that are high in nutrients, because that’s another way to boost your immune system as well,” she said.
“So, whether you’re trying to ward off illness, you’re dealing with illness or recovering from an illness, all those habits that I just mentioned apply,” noted Mieses Malchuk.
A previous version of this story said children may be more protected against COVID-19 because of genetic protections. This story has been updated to reflect that antiviral protections are what defend against a COVID-19 infection.