History Main / CatchYourDeathOfCold

* In the ''Literature/RainbowMagic'' book "Sky the Blue Fairy", the titular Sky becomes very ill after the bubble she was trapped inside freezes over. To save her, Rachel and Kirsty bring her to the pot at the end of the rainbow, where Sky's four found sisters, Ruby, Amber, Saffron, and Fern, create a fairy ring to restore her colour.

* Speaking of [[WesternAnimation/Goofy Goofy]] this trope is played unusually in the short "Cold War." The narrator properly notes that the common cold is caused by a virus, but Goofy is subsequently shown getting sick after opening his office window in winter. (The window is above ground level, which, in the absence of strong winds, would seem to pose an obstacle to him getting sufficient viral exposure

* In the ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' episode "Blooooo", Mac and Bloo both catch particularly nasty colds after playing in the mud during a thunderstorm. Bloo turns white and [[{{Squick}} drags his snot along the wall]] (which is mistaken for ectoplasm), leading Wilt, Coco, and Eduardo to think he's a ghost.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}:''

* In ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'': In "Asterix in Switzerland", Obelix says he's caught a cold from "that retched lake".

* In ''WesternAnimation/WinnieThePooh2011'', the Backson is shown to give Eeyore a cold in the fantasy sequence by sprinkling water on him and blowing icy air at him.

* In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]],'' IdleAnimation changes based on your environment. If it's a cold place, you shiver, and then sneeze.

* Speaking of [[WesternAnimation/Goofy Goofy this trope is played unusually in the short "Cold War." The narrator properly notes that the common cold is caused by a virus, but Goofy is subsequently shown getting sick after opening his office window in winter. (The window is above ground level, which, in the absence of strong winds, would seem to pose an obstacle to him getting sufficient viral exposure

* Speaking of ''WesternAnimation/Goofy'' this trope is played unusually in the short "Cold War." The narrator properly notes that the common cold is caused by a virus, but Goofy is subsequently shown getting sick after opening his office window in winter. (The window is above ground level, which, in the absence of strong winds, would seem to pose an obstacle to him getting sufficient viral exposure

* While it still doesn’t make the common cold a deadly disease, there actually really are a few reasons why you’re more likely to catch a respiratory virus like those causing the „cold“ or the „flu“ while the weather is cold outside:

** Even if you can keep breathing through your nose, when the air is freezing, the body will quickly reduce blood-flow through the capillaries in the nose to avoid losing too much heat. This means that the mucous membranes in the nose get “patrolled” less frequently by immune system cells and antibodies that travel in the blood, which makes it more likely that viruses that are capable of infecting the type of cells in these membranes (such as rhinoviruses, which also cause the common cold) will have the opportunity to do so before they’re caught and neutralized. Once a few cells are infected, the initial few virus particles get massively multiplied and the more virus particles there are, the higher the likelihood that some are going to survive in the mucus to infect other tissues further down the respiratory tract. (I.e. you first get the sniffles, then a sore throat, then a cough, etc.)

The trope, although pretty much a DiscreditedTrope at this point, is still used faithfully in fiction and media -- exposure to cold means you are going to 'catch' a cold or something worse. Once one has caught cold, if it's a GrossOutShow, expect rivers of green mucus, horrible shots of runny noses and hankies and tissues dripping with said mucus.

''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'' on a date and then Rapunzel falls out of a boat into the lake and catches the flu.

--> ''If it wasnae for yer wellies, where would you be?\

If you didnae have yer feet in yer wellies.

-> ''Late one night in a jungle camp,\\

* In ''Fanfic/FragileHandleWithCare'', [[spoiler:Jesse catches cold after getting drenched in the rain the day before]].

* {{Inverted|Trope}} in ''[[Fanfic/StrongAndSteady I Got You, Little Buddy]]''; [[Anime/YoKaiWatch Frostina]] becomes very weak after being in the warm sun.

* In ''Fanfic/LetMeWarmYourHeart'', Narcis gets mild hypothermia from getting caught in the rain/snow, which softens into a cold as the story progresses.

* {{Downplayed|Trope}} in ''Fanfic/NurseJet''. Sean was sniffling by the beginning of the story, but he wasn't fully sick until after leaving the window open overnight while it was raining.

* {{Exploited|Trope}} in ''Fanfic/ThePandaChronicles'' chapter "The Toaster's Toast"; [[WesternAnimation/TurningRed Aaron Z.]] opens the window on a cold January morning as part of his [[FakingAnotherPersonsIllness ruse]] to make Jesse think Tae-young is sick.

* Defied in ''Fanfic/ThatCatchInYourThroat''; Sabrina questions how Bruno could have caught a "cold"[[note]]actually pneumonia[[/note]] in the middle of spring. Sierra explains that colds are caused by viruses, not literally being cold, and that if he were to get sick from being cold, he'd get hypothermia.

** In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'', there are five days of flu season. During this time, any enemies you encounter have a chance of starting their battles inflicted with despair, a status effect that disables all actions and kills its victim in three turns. [[BonusBoss The Reaper]] is not immune to this. That's right, [[TheGrimReaper Death itself]] can be killed by a cold.

* ''Film/{{Madeline}}'': Madeline falls into the river and has a sneezing fit, and Miss Clavel seems to think she's sick, putting her to bed with tea and [[SoupIsMedicine soup]]. The movie doesn't say if she's actually sick or just chilled, though – once she's alone, she gets out of bed and seems fine, although she does almost give herself away with a SneezeOfDoom while trying to hide Genevieve the dog, who followed her home.

* ''Fanfic/LoveCoversAllSins'': Holmes finds being outside (even in a cab) rather unpleasant after three days of weakening himself to fool the killer, and notes that he hopes neither he nor Watson will become ill from the rain. When he catches the doctor's attention, Watson tells him he shouldn't be outside in his condition, and Holmes tells him that the advice applies to them both.

* In the online game based on ''Franchise/{{Frozen}}'', called ''Elsa Frozen Flu Doctor'', Elsa catches the flu from spending weeks in the cold. A similar game entitled ''Rapunzel Flu Doctor'' has Rapunzel and Eugene from ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'' on a date and then Rapunzel falls out of a boat into the lake and catches the flu.

* In an online game ''Victoria at the Flu Doctor'', a girl about seven years old (but with a babyish cry) named Victoria catches the flu because ''her ice cream was too cold''.

** Zigzagged in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12711940/1/GB-Sick-Day Sick Day]]''. Ghosts use their [[AnIcePerson ice powers]] on the Ghostbusters, which [[BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulu makes them all sick]], but with different diseases: Peter Venmkan gets a sinus infection, Ray Stantz gets a cold, Egon Spengler gets what seems to be a serious flu, and Winston Zeddemore gets a stomach virus.

* {{Exploited|Trope}} in ''Fanfic/ThePandaChronicles'' chapter "The Toaster's Toast"; [[WesternAnimation/TurningRed Aaron Z.]] opens the window on a cold January morning as part of his [[FakingSomeonesElsesIllness ruse]] to make Jesse think Tae-young is sick.

* Similarly, a persistent legend about Creator/EmilyBronte holds that she caught a cold at her brother Branwell's funeral, presumably from the harsh autumn weather, which led to her death from [[IncurableCoughOfDeath tuberculosis]] three months later. Actually, the accounts from Creator/CharlotteBronte and their household servant Martha Brown imply that she didn't fall ill until a week after the funeral.