Swapping the Common Cold

Dear Ask The Doctor: Hypothetical: I have a cold. My girlfriend then catches the cold from me. (Let's assume it is definitely from me.) I am now healthy but she is sick. How likely is it that I can now catch it *back* from her? Very likely, somewhat likely, or not likely? Perhaps I have some degree of "immunity" to it now?

Dear Dan:

It would not be very probable for you to catch the same virus again. The Cold is a process that continues even when you don’t have the symptoms any more. Your body, especially your immune system is clearing the remnants and creating certain immunity.

However if your immune system is compromised due to other conditions such as stress or medications, the possibilities would increase up to certain point. In my opinion, I don’t think that you should worry about getting re infected. I wish you the best.