Seasonal sickness on the rise... but is it due to the cold?

MACOMB (WGEM) - It’s that time of year when people come down with seasonal illness and blame it on the cold weather.

Though, officials say that the longtime saying that cold weather equates to sickness is actually a myth.

“We’ve all heard our grandparents say, ‘Don’t go outside with your hair wet, don’t go outside when it’s cold,’ that’s not true,” said Niki Duffy, public information officer for the McDonough County Health Department. “The cold doesn’t make you sick, the germs make you sick.”

The cold weather is not what causes sickness this time of year, rather the congregation of people spending more time inside as the weather cools off.

“While outside, the air is being dispersed over a wider area. But, when you are inside the same air is circulating,” said Duffy.

While sickness is