Air Conditioning Cough??

[Callas]

Question: Did you have a room AC unit or was it central.

I beleive you most likely had a room unit and the culprit is mold. When you cool air water condenses and the water content of the air and surroundings goes up and can produce mold. Also mold can grow inside the unit if air is in total recircualtion mode.

Using the AC/vent mode may help a little to exchange some fresh air.
Keep the bathroom vent running.
Never shower with the bathroom door open.
Keep wet towels out of the room.
Keep wet towles you plan to resue off the floors.
Bring a De-humitifier with you.
Stay in a resort with central air versus room to room air.

Try spryaing a mold killer (Lysol) into the intake on the unit.
Lysol the room and bath room.

Bring a space heater and run AC on max. The White House used to do something like this. What this does is condense water out of the air and then heats the air back up allowing the air to hold more water. The air then dries out the room and the AC unit condenses the water and expells.

The mold may also grow on the cooling coils in the unit so replacing the filter may not be the key.

Some filters are washable and are not replaced. This is the worst case for mold as normally they are just hosed down and not soaked in a bateria killing solution.


Callas

 

[Lehuaann]

I am not a northerner (KY) but I tend to "almost always" get a sore throat-loose my voice-cold/sinus infection when it is hot outdoors and have a cold a/c unit blowing in my hotel room during the night.

BTW: Our room at church camp last week had a BRAND NEW a/c window unit and I STILL woke up with a BAD cold the next day as always ...now I am sitting here one week later with no voice and a sinus infection. Our kids (including my daugher who has severe asthma) are absolutely fine...personally I believe this is more of a immune system/weather/temperature/climate change problem.

 

[pigletto]

I didn't read all the replies so sorry if this has been covered already. My dd and I have asthma and as soon as air conditioning season starts we start coughing.
We've been pretty militant about using good filters.. but it didn't really help. We are in a new house though so the drywall dust was pretty bad for awhile.
I don't really have any suggestions.. other than if any of you have asthma make sure to bring along any meds/inhalers you might have.

 

[Ohio Disney Girl]

What great information! None of my family officially has an asthma diagnosis and this seems to happen to us at Disney and not so much so anywhere else, but again, as people have mentioned, there's the air travel, germs all over one of the world's most visited places, and the I'm-too-excited-to-sleep nights leading up to the trip that all contribute, I am sure!

We'll probably just pump up the viatmins, Lysol the room, wash hands, and enjoy our "Mouse Time" re gardless!

 

[GoingtoWDWagain]

My little one gets the same cough everytime we visit WDW. I always pick the bed that is away from the direct air from the AC. If it continues all through the night (the cough) the next morning I call and explain and ask if they can change the air filter, within the hour they come and change it Usually the cough stops about a day later. I always thought it was weird that this happens upon sleeping the first night in the hotel room Hope this helps, good luck

 

[tink771]

I live here in Florida and have caught a cough at WDW a few times myself. Now every time we go we make sure to take Airborne the night before we leave and during our trip, it seems to work. You come in close contact with a lot of people and you are always in and out of air conditioning.

 

[mkbroas]

My husband thinks I am nuts, but I clean our room first thing on every trip. I bring my Dow bathroom cleaner, Lysol spray, Febreeze antibacterial, dish soap and anti-bacterial hand wipes. I clean the drinking glasses, sinks, faucets, tub and toilet and then spray everything else down with Lysol. I also wipe down all of the handles, the phone, the remote and the refrigerator with anti-bacterial hand wipes. I spray down all of the comforters, curtains and carpets with the Febreeze antibacterial before we leave the room to go to the parks. Now everytime I spray Febreeze at home it reminds me of Disney!

I got horribly sick on our 1st trip to Disney and after watching a show on the cleanliness of hotel rooms I have decided that I would rather personally clean the room then take a chance on picking up a virus. Haven't had a cold at Disney since.

 

[Ohio Disney Girl]

You all have now made me a hotel "neat freak" ! My husband WILL think I am crazy, but I'm coming fully loaded with cleaning supplies this time! If it can save us all the dreaded "Disney cold", I'll take being crazy!

Thanks for all of the tips!

 

[karibritt01]

My DD has asthma, and did have a flare-up on our first WDW trip. We contributed it to the change in pollens/allergens than what she has built tolerance to at home. She also has flare-ups when we travel to other places, including relatives homes. I think change in allergens is a good possibility. The window units and mold is another good possibility. We always stay at CSR for the central AC. The stress leading up to a major vacation can also take more of a toll than you realize when you consider doing laundry, packing, etc.

Get more rest before your trip, take vitamin C, and upgrade to a resort with central air! And while I feel the resorts are pretty clean, there are places such as telephone receiver and remote that could definitely be sprayed with Lysol!

 

[CJCC]

My family and I were at WDW in early May for 5 days and stayed at The Dolphin Hotel. It was perfect EXCEPT for the fact that 4 of us left with a cough that lasted for WEEKS!! Mine turned into laryngitis, my husbands is super dry and he reports it’s in hi chest and burns BUT MY BIGGEST CONCERN is that 2 of our children STILL have the cough and it’s been almost EIGHT WEEKS!!!! We’ve gone to the doctor twice (We are going back today for our 3rd visit) The doctor says it’s “post nasal drip.” Ok, but why is it still present after EIGHT WEEKS and what kind of virus or mold can cause this?? It’s TERRIBLE!! Both my Childrens coughs are similar in that they point to the same exact spot in their lower throat and say that where the spot is that tickles and causes them to cough. It is usually a productive cough in the sense that you can hear the phlegm moving but it rarely comes up. Noses run a bit but opaque or pale yellow in color. Only one of us started his with a temperature and it was our 4th night at Disney at 2 in the morning and guess where her roll away was???? RIGHT BESIDE THE AIR CONDITIONER... PLEASE HELP... I’m at a loss as to what to do at this point.

 

[Sandiz08]

It could be allergens, your family getting used to a new pollen in Florida. A few family members are really bad about going new places when it comes to that.

 

[Elephantay]

If the condensation does not drain properly from the air conditioner mold can grow inside the A/C unit. Your family may have sensitivity to mold.

This might sound obsessive but we both carry a bottle of purrel with us. The ones that can be attached to a belt loop or a handle of a bag. After riding rides or before eating we use it. I carry a large pump bottle in our toiletry bag so I can refill our bottles. Look at target in the travel toiletry bins I just picked one up this weekend for 1.00.

I also take clorox wipes and clean the hotel room. I know this sounds crazy but after a news channel recently did a hidden camera report on how hotels are cleaned - housekeeping cleaned a toilet with a rag and then used the same rag to clean the drinking glasses- I wipe door handles, facets, TV remotes ect. You never know.
The best thing about being a DVC member is that housekeeping only enters your room once during your weekly stay and that is just to take out the trash and give you clean towels. So I don't have to disinfect everyday. But I do it every so often during our stay.

We sanitize everything too! Light switches and doorknobs and remote and counter...

 

[kaytieeldr]

Ok, but why is it still present after EIGHT WEEKS and what kind of virus or mold can cause this?

These are really, really good questions to ask your doctor, along with treatments.

 

[rinnythepooh]

I POSTED THIS IN APRIL OF 2018
This works! I used to get sick every Disney trip. We started this practice a few years ago. I have not gotten sick at Disney since.
1. Wipe down the plane
2. Wipe down the resort room
3. Use hand sanitizer after evey ride
4. Wash hands with soap when returning to room and before eating anything.
FWIW. ON OUR DEC 2018 TRIP WE DID NOT WIPE DOWN THE PLANE DOWN ON THE WAY HOME. ABOUT 4 DAYS AFTER I GOT THE WORST UPPER RESPERTORY VIRUS I HAVE HAD IN DECADES. SICK FOR A MONTH. IN BED ALL OF XMAS EVE AND XMAS DAY.

 

[shocker]

I LOVE when these 10+ year old threads get resurrected.
I'm guessing not a cold at but rather an allergic reaction. Often appears as a cold to the unsuspecting. We have 2 asthmatic children & have been on nebulizer breathing treatments by the time we land & make it to our first nights hotel stay. (Personally I think it's tied to things that grow in high humidity & mold).

24 OTC meds (like zyrtec, not claritin..too weak). If using RX meds some can be used in conjunction with others so we can take one 24 med in the morning & another 24 hour med at bedtime.
For 'tickle' coughs an analgesic can do wonders. A cough drop or throat spray to numb the area.

 

[NWOhiogal]

Do what I did: about two to three weeks before your trip, buy a few bottles of Airborne chewable tablets. Airborne is a super combo of vitamin C and zinc and other supplements, and it will boost your immune system to keep you cold-free.

You can chew up to 4 tablets at a time up to 4 times a day, but I didn't take THAT much - just popped a few every now and then, when I thought of it, right up until my trip and then all the through the trip. Never got a sniffle.

Any drug store carries Airborne, and there's several ways to take it. Highly recommended!! And thanks to my Disney-pro friend Laura for making the suggestion to me.

 

[DizzyStitch]

We stayed st SSR this past May and I ended up with Pneumonia, but I am never a germophob(sp?). Lots of dry hot weather this year and we stayed two weeks in it. Oh it was wonderful especially since I swear we came home to monsoons!