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I live in Romania and since I was a kid, I heard people talking about something we call, here in Romania, current—basically, the air flow which is being formed if at least two exterior windows are opened (or a window and a door, or two doors etc). I'm not sure how this term is being translated in other languages... I tried searching it in English, but I didn't find any information.

They say that, for instance, two windows in a room (both of them communicating with the outside world) are opened, the wind or air flow which is formed is terrible for your health—such as: you will get cold, you will get headaches, ear aches etc. Another case is when you travel by car and at least two windows are opened. And so on.

Like I mentioned, Romanians see this as a health risk. Some friends living in other countries (e.g. United States) and some people on internet forums say this is the concept which exists only in Romania.

How true is this affirmation? Perhaps, it's not only in Romania, however, how popular is this?

Apart that some friends who traveled in other countries said it, some people and posts on the internet claimed it too:

Ionică Bizău
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    Skeptics.SE requires that all questions have a notable claim; You have to show that someone notable believes that something is true. If you find a website that claims that having two windows open is a health risk, and link it in your question, you can ask if it is risky. If you find someone claiming that people outside Romania don't believe it, you can ask that question. Most people on Skeptics don't speak Romainian; a translation of the claim would be very helpful. – BobTheAverage May 17 '18 at 16:00
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    The "is air flow risky" question would probably be best on Health, but could also be asked here if you had a notable claim of it. I think it *might* have been asked here before. – Ben Barden May 17 '18 at 17:23
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    https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/30262/getting-ill-because-of-staying-in-a-draft-draught found it. Unfortunately, it's been marked as a duplicate of a question that it's not actually a duplicate of. – Ben Barden May 17 '18 at 17:24
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    Never heard of this in the US. When it's hot I'll often open two windows specifically for the draft. – Kevin May 17 '18 at 17:53
  • @BobTheAverage Thanks! I added two links. Both can be passed to Google Translate and be translated. – Ionică Bizău May 17 '18 at 18:09
  • @BenBarden Yes, [that](https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/q/30262/37394) question doesn't seem to be a duplicate. Maybe it could be reopened... – Ionică Bizău May 17 '18 at 18:11
  • "some friends" and "some people and posts on the internet" are not notable sources for claims. – Ben Barden May 17 '18 at 18:36
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    The same belief [exists in France](https://www.davidlebovitz.com/le-courant-aire-draft/), at a minimum. I seem to recall an article in a major newspaper linking heat weave deaths to French people's reluctance to open windows, but I can't seem to find it. – ESultanik May 17 '18 at 19:44
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    The question "Do drafts cause [particular medical problem]?" is on-topic, if you have a notable claim. If there is a problem with a duplicate, let's fix it. The question "Who else believes this nonsense?" isn't really on-topic here. – Oddthinking May 18 '18 at 03:01
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    I pity the children of mixed Romanian/Korean heritage who cannot open two windows or turn on a fan: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/24/world/what-in-the-world/a-uniquely-korean-household-worry.html – Adam May 18 '18 at 05:10
  • I haven't found an English term for it, in Swedish it's called "korsdrag" (there is "crossflow", but it's about enginges). I've read that the belief is common in the Balkans. It's interesting because here it's the recommended method as you can get in fresh air quickly without losing too much heat. – liftarn May 18 '18 at 06:51
  • @ESultanik I am French and this is the first time I hear about this superstition. French people may be reluctant to open windows to keep the heat or cold out, and people from the northern half of France (such as Paris) aren't very good at dealing with heat — architectures and culture are designed to keep the cold out. Ascribing this to a fear of diseases is nonsense. – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil' May 18 '18 at 12:04
  • @Oddthinking I have a notable medical figure of brazil _debunking_ this claim on his page. Would that count as a source for the claim? I believe that the page would give us at least indirect proof that the claim is somewhat "notable". – T. Sar May 18 '18 at 17:08
  • @Oddthinking - I don't have a written source but it was an extremely common folk belief in USSR (drafts make you likely to catch cold) when I grew up. – user5341 May 19 '18 at 02:14
  • @user5341 + T.Sar: They don't rescue *this* question. They might rescue the duplicate question. Shall we go save that? – Oddthinking May 19 '18 at 02:17
  • @Oddthinking should at least be reopened and closed as a duplicate. (The accepted answer also includes a notable claim, FWIW.) – Tgr Sep 26 '18 at 00:53
  • Many Germans believe this too. Also going out without a scarf. This is the reason German mothers always put the hood up on prams. When I pushed my babies around with the hood down people would come up to me and tell me they'd get sick. (They didn't.) – RedSonja Sep 26 '18 at 08:53

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It is not true that this is confined to Romania. Some other cultures which also perceive draughts as unhealthy and the cause of colds:

Jan Tojnar
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daniel
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  • This is also true for rural south of Brazil. – T. Sar May 17 '18 at 16:45
  • @T.Sar Thank you for sharing this information. I started a list in the answer – daniel May 17 '18 at 16:51
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    I believe OP was questioning whether there were crazy cultures who DON'T see that as a risk. Would be interesting to see a do vs don't breakdown. – PoloHoleSet May 17 '18 at 20:08
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    [Welcome to Skeptics!](http://meta.skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/1505/welcome-to-new-users) Please [provide some references](http://meta.skeptics.stackexchange.com/q/5) to support your claims. – Oddthinking May 18 '18 at 03:02