I saw this outbreak of colds coming a week ago when someone I live with started coughing and sneezing and complaining of a sore throat. I knew it was only a matter of time before I started drinking large amounts of herbal tea and infecting everyone I knew with whatever virus I was carrying around with me. Welcome to cold season. Colds are virtually unavoidable, especially in a college environment like Macalester. That's because what is generically referred to as a cold can actually be caused by one of over 200 viruses, which makes it very difficult to develop a vaccine that could protect against all of them.
Most adults suffer from an average of two to four colds per year.
Cold season begins late in August and lasts until March or April. This seems to explain the apparent jumps in numbers of people with a cold a few weeks into the semester. Maybe you're sick too. If you're not yet, you probably will be soon. Once you do get sick, there's no proven remedy.