A Las Vegas doctor is taking a closer look at a few cold weather illness myths.
People often say colder temperatures cause you to get sick. But Dr. Daliah Wachs said that is not exactly the case.
Wachs says, "There's certain viruses and bacteria that really like to pervade around this time of year but because it's cold we're not outdoors as much and we're more indoors so the reason we see more colds perpetuating this time of year is kids are back in school and they're together and they come home and they breath over mom and dad. When we don't go outside as much so in a way it's more of a season thing as opposed to a temperature thing."
When it comes to bundling up, yes of course it keeps you warm, but it does also keep you safe.
"People will say if you don't put on your jacket you catch a chill you could get sick. Well, technically if your body is stressed yes you are going to be more susceptible to infection so we tell you to dress warm," Wachs says.
You may have also heard your parents say, don't leave the house with your hair wet! It turns out, that doesn't necessarily mean you'll catch a cold.
"When you have wet hair you could run the risk more of hypothermia because water seems to absorb the heat so if you have wet hair, you have wet head which means your head will lose heat. So I believe it but do we have studies? No we don't," Wachs says.
Last year, Clark County had 60 flu deaths and nearly 1,000 flu hospitalizations last year.
