Holiday season is providing many people opportunities to travel, gain exceptional experiences and kids bringing gifts at home. But for some unlucky celebrants, they end up collecting virus and illnesses.
Leisure illness, as what researchers from Netherlands named it, is a kind of health condition which is commonly experience when a person is on a vacation or over a weekend. Those who acquire it usually experience symptoms such as cold or flu, insomnia, nausea, exhaustion and headaches.
Some may experience body aches and excessive tiredness. According to experts, though the symptoms may be accredited to virus making one sick, but the basic cause can be attributed to leaving and not working.
A study was conducted by Dutch researchers in 2002 that found the connection between Christmas trips and flu. About 1900 participants answered a survey and 3 percent of them where found to feel sick on a getaway. Researchers found no medical explanation to support the findings, yet they believe that traveling is an acceptable reason itself.
William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center stated, "Whether influenza, the common cold, or other viruses, it's really quite clear that mass transportation contributes to transmission. It's not the only way, but it's a major way."
Some may also associate the flu or cold with the weather as it gets colder on Christmas season and other holidays. "There have been a lot of studies done, but really there's still no evidence to show that it's the cold weather itself that's making us sick. It's sort of coincidental that certain viruses flare up this time of year," Dr. Kittu Jindal Garg, an internal medicine specialist with the Cleveland Clinic explained.
Stress brought by the holiday season can be another factor that may trigger sickness carrier bugs. The body's immune system is weaker and less effective to combat virus due to chronic stress. "The explanation seems sensible in that stress will cause release of corticosteroids and they may help us during the stressful period but they may also lower our resistance to infection and maybe this is a delayed response," Ronald Eccles, director of Cardiff University's Common Cold Centre stated.
