If you're an Arizonan, you may have had a better chance at avoiding a cold than people from the other 49 states.
According to a Gallup survey, they called 500 Americans every night for a year to asked whether they had colds or the flu a day earlier (among other questions). It's not exactly medical science, but only 3.8 percent of Arizonans responded that they indeed had a cold -- the lowest rate in the nation.
In comparison, 8.2 percent of people in Montana reported a cold on any given day, as did 7.7 percent of Oregonians, and 6.9 percent of New Yorkers and Mississippians.
On the other hand, Arizonans tend to get the flu.
Although less than 1 percent of the people in Vermont, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Alabama had the flu on any given day, 2.3 percent of Arizonans did. That was the sixth-highest level, behind Nevada, California, New York, Texas, and New Mexico.
There is one obvious explanation here for Arizona's high rate of flu, and a low rate of colds -- that people might not know which one they actually had.
"Those who are sick with the flu or a cold may be less likely to respond to a phone survey, so these percentages may underestimate the actual prevalence," a Gallup explanation says. "Additionally, since Americans self-report whether they have the flu or a cold, those with a cold may actually have the flu and vice versa."
However, Gallup has been tracking this information since 2008, and specifically in regards to the flu, California, Florida, Texas, and New Mexico have some of the highest rates every year.
Check out all the cold and flu information from Gallup by clicking here.
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