I hadn't had a cold in at least a couple of years (not since I started taking significant doses of vitamin D). So I attributed the viral resistance to taking plenty of vitamin D. (Even though I've seen a recent article about research that concluded that one's vitamin D level has nothing to do with cold or flu resistance).
I recently switched doctors, and during the first visit, my GP's PA asked about immunizations, and suggested the flu vaccine (of course), which I declined, and a pneumonia vaccine. Well, the pneumonia vaccine sounded as though it might be a good idea, because I have a history of breathing issues (beginning with childhood asthma). When I pointed out that vaccinations aren't nearly as effective on older folks, he agreed, but countered with the claim that even if I were to get pneumonia, it would be a much milder form, if I had the vaccine. That made sense to me, so I agreed to take the pneumonia jab. That was the only vaccine that I agreed to, because my last tetanus booster should still be effective.
I never noticed any reaction to the vaccine (I was expecting one, since he had suggested that I would probably have a mild reaction). I didn't feel the jab at all, nor did any pain develop subsequently, and I never noticed any respiratory symptoms that could be attributed to it.
Three and a half weeks later, I attended a banquet, where I was seated next to the MC, who seemed to be getting (or getting over) a cold. He didn't sneeze or cough, but his breath had that characteristic odor suggestive of a cold, so I suspect that he was in the early stages of a developing cold. Two days later I had a cold.
Fast forward another three and a half weeks (to Tuesday of this week), to a small Christmas gathering for dinner, where I was seated across the table from a lady who occasionally coughed (always politely deflected behind her), and blew her nose a time or two. She didn't show any significant signs of being particularly infectious, but three days later, here I am with another cold coming on.
So what's going on? I hadn't had a cold for years, and all of a sudden I'm catching every cold that I'm just barely exposed to — colds that I would never have caught in the past.
Could the fact that I hadn't had a cold in at least a couple of years, and even before that (before I started taking vitamin D), I virtually never had more than one or two a year, have merely been a coincidence. Was I just lucky in the past?
Could taking too much vitamin D undo the improved resistance that's associated with more moderate vitamin D levels?
Could that pneumonia jab have somehow destroyed my previous resistance to colds?
Or could the problem be due to something else that I'm overlooking?
Tex

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