Ask HN: Did I catch a cold from eating unwashed fruit?

#1

Post by jonashoechst » Sat, May 12, 2018, 5:08 PM UTC

Recently I caught a cold in presumably an amazingly short period of time (~6h). From prior infections I had the experience to have 24 to 48 hours "left" being a bit ill, before being forced to stay in bed. Observing my disease I asked myself what went different this time. In general I don't get ill too easy.

  Morning: got to work as usual feeling reasonably well
  12pm: ate some sushi bought from a supermarket
  ~3 pm: ate a bowl of strawberries - unwashed
  6pm: already felt a scratchy throat
  9pm: having a Skype call planning some event, starting to have a headache
  11pm: falling to bed really exhausted
  I did not have contact with visibly ill people during that day.

My theory now is, that the unwashed strawberries carried the pathogen. Here are some thoughts that might support this:

1. Since I got hit so fast I'm assuming being exposed to a high number of bacteria.

2. The pathogens where possibly passed by an ill harvester.

3. Strawberries being sweet, moist and un-chilled seem to be the perfect fertile ground for reproduction.

4. The incubation period of colds is usually a lot longer (2-5 days). Does a higher number of bacteria result in a shorter incubation period?

5. Washing the strawberries would have helped. The bacteria was just on the surface area, since the vessels of the strawberries of course where not alive anymore.

Am I right with my assumptions or did I miss something? I'd like you to confirm or debunk my theory of getting ill.

Thank you!

Re: Ask HN: Did I catch a cold from eating unwashed fruit?

#2

Post by AndorDrakon » Sat, May 12, 2018, 6:53 PM UTC

More likely that the strawberries had pesticides or soil contaminants that altered your immune function, so anything already in your nose, being controlled, surfaced.

Colds are viral and cannot reproduce outside your body.

Re: Ask HN: Did I catch a cold from eating unwashed fruit?

#3

Post by eesmith » Sat, May 12, 2018, 8:32 PM UTC

3 hours is unbelievably fast. The incubation period for flu, cold is at least 1 day. Norovirus (which isn't what you had) can be as quick as 12 hours, but still normally 1-2 days.

(Eg, see the list at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incubation_period ).

It's more likely that you were infected a day or two previous, with nothing to do with your strawberries.

FWIW, http://fsi.colostate.edu/strawberries/ points out other infection routes through strawberries than just the harvester, including "contamination by sewage", and "Deer feces were implicated as the source of the strawberry contamination".