This is probably a common experience for many but just wanted to share and get similar experiences so I don’t feel so alone in this haha…
I moved to Japan in 2020, and for 2020 and 2021 I spent it mostly inside so I hardly got sick. I got sick maybe once every 2 years in my home country.
But starting in 2022 and since schools and work started, I’ve been getting sick at a rate of like 3 fevers a year. This is very rare for me, and blood test seems to reveal a healthy person. None of the fever has been COVID either and they mostly just go away in a day or 2.
Obviously I’ve been far more social, active in sports, and generally out much more than 20-21, but I feel like 3 fevers a year is too much.
My hypothesis is that I don’t have immunity to whatever the common viruses are here in Japan, and it would subside in a couple more years. But what has everyone else’s experience been?
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Basically your last paragraph. My first two years here wreaked havoc on my immune system. New and prolonged exposure to the native flora and fauna, diseases that are not so common outside of Asia (HMF, animal-origin influenza come to mind) will put your body to the test. However, being here almost 9 years now – I rarely get sick anymore. Last time I got sick was maybe 2017 or 2018.
You came during Covid when there was basically no illnesses. I didn’t get one cold or illness for 3 years. Now you are catching up. Everyone will be getting more sick this year as you have to fill in the 3 years deficit.
I haven’t got a cold/fever once and this is my 6th year. Well, except for the COVID vac fever. But I don’t go out much and I bet 3 years of wearing a mask when going outside helped. Lots of digestive problems though.
I’ve been here since 2011, and kept the same rhythm as in my home country, a big cold once every two year. However, my daughter started youchien in may and i’ve had an almost constant cold/stuffed nose since then, she keeps bringing it home.
No. I lived here for maybe 15 years before I got a cold. I cannot remember the last time I had one, either. I got influenza once from our child, though, but that was five or six years ago.
I didn’t get sick noticeably more during my first few years here, but when I did, infections did prove harder to shift. Could be different viruses, different treatments, or probably a combination of both.
Fast forward to now, when I have two kids in daycare and holy shit! I’m getting laid out by something every 3-4 months. As someone who generally got a cold once or twice a year, it’s been absolutely gruelling.
If your work or social life has you coming into contact with young children on a regular basis, look no further than that.
Yup. And my hair also felt a lot. 10 years ago. People said was the water idk. Now is ok
I vaguely remember saying I only felt well “maybe one week of the month” when I first got here. I caught everything my students had.
Never used air conditioners where I am from, so I got a lot of colds from using them in the first few years. Completely immune now.
Might it be hayfever? Moving to new places can cause cold-like symptoms because you are encountering new types of pollen. The changing of the seasons can also result in different pollen being released/
It was less in my first years. Then I got kids and started getting everything.
I think it’s the same for most people that are in frequent contact with children (like teachers or parents). First year was awful for me, caught everything the students had and was sick about every other month. After that it was maybe once or twice a year.
Didn’t get sick between 2020 until the end of last year (picked up something at a restaurant – fever, but COVID negative). So far this year, still ok. Have been masked since 2020 (school policy + the students are very germy). There’s been waves of colds and COVID going through my school for the past month or so, but hoping that after this lot clears, can start to wear the mask less (definitely too hot now).
Im always healthier back home in the UK . I get gastro issues here, but lived my twenties here so i’m not more vulnerable to local colds anymore than a Japanese person.
I just overall have more energy back home , which is weird as the British diet is supposedly rubbish. Maybe it’s the water idk, perhaps I’m just supposed to be there
Been here since 96 and if I think about it I have only been sick three times. I dont get vaxxes every year nor wear masks that much, even during covid. My wife and kids dont seem to get sick very often either. Pneumonia seems to be prevalent here, maybe due to humidity and amount of dust that accumulates in the city? dunno