can you get a serious cold from inhaling your built up dust.

[Golf1.6]

I have about 10 years of dust built up under my desk.

The sheer amount of cabeling and the tight space meant that I could never feasibly get under there and vaccum everything out.

Well anyway, changed desks recently and cleared everything out. Seriously high amount of dust was cleared. Probably inhaled quite a fair bit of it although I made sure not to unsettle anything and use a vaccum and not a brush.

Now I've got a very bad cold. Is there a link?

 

[tom_e]

You wouldn't get a cold as such as that's caused by a virus, but yes it could cause respiratory issues.

 

[antijoke]

Yes, I don't give you long.

 

[Joshct]

i use air compressors to blow out old pcs at work, they've been in factories for years.

If there's a connection i truly should be dieing right now, so much dust... coats me in the stuff.

 

[anything I don't mind]

I just picked up a chest infection from inhaling some mold spores, don't ask. Being doing some research on the topic and if left untreated can lead to chest infection and eventually phenomia. Can try and steam clean your lungs, walks on the beach with salty air, lots of deep breathes and breathing exercises and cough it all up.

 

[Golf1.6]

cool. I thought maybe germs/virus could survive on dust and cause problems when you inhale it.

 

[Schlong&Stable]

I just picked up a chest infection from inhaling some mold spores, don't ask. Being doing some research on the topic and if left untreated can lead to chest infection and eventually phenomia. Can try and steam clean your lungs, walks on the beach with salty air, lots of deep breathes and breathing exercises and cough it all up.

You cannot "steam clean" your lungs

 

[wndsr]

Why not just spend a day taking everything out, giving it all a damn good clean then putting it back in?

 

[~>Dg<~]

golf owners are often prone to dust .

 

[pitchfork]

Yeah I always get ill if I do some sort of dusty work.

 

[Maccapacca]

Yes and it's probably asbestos

 

[Leprechaun312]

Probably, however its winter and its cold outside and people generally seem to get ill around now i wouldn't be surprised if it was a bug that was going around

 

[Haggisman]

Not directly from the dust, but it can irritate/weaken your respiratory system which will then make you more susceptible to airborne viruses...

 

[pitchfork]

Probably, however its winter and its cold outside and people generally seem to get ill around now i wouldn't be surprised if it was a bug that was going around

Cold weather doesn't result in colds though, it's being indoors more that does it.

Or that's what QI says.

 

[Mr Badger]

You cannot "steam clean" your lungs

Yes you can. Although unfortunately the damage caused by the process tends to prove fatal...

 

[CaptainRAVE]

It is entirely possible, yes. There could be viral particles in there or bacterial spores.

 

[gandhi]

More importantly (and likely) is the vast amount of house dust mites and their faeces that you have undoubtedly and inadvertently ingested. HDM's produce a certain protein their excrement that triggers an allergic reaction. Some people are more susceptible than others. I am, and it gives me hives, asthma, rhinitis, itchy throat, watery eyes, sneezing etc.

Lovely little buggers they are!

 

[dirtychinchilla]

It's not a cold! It's your airways having dust in them

 

[Freefaller]

Why don't you just buy an adapter for your vacuum or just use a damp cloth to clean up? It's a bit gross leaving the dust to build up.

 

[Bunka]

You've probably just irritated your sinuses, I have the same issue when cleaning areas with built up dust, makes my nose stream and causes me to cough a fair bit!