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It has been pretty hot in my neck of the woods over the last week. It has been roughly 80 degrees in my room at night. To try to stay comfortable and get to sleep I have been running two fans. One in the window and one pointed at my bed. Today I woke up with a headache, runny nose, and sore throat. Someone was telling me that if you have a fan blowing on you at night it will make you sick. It seems a common meme on the internet Is that true?

Sklivvz
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Linger
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  • Related: http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/548/can-you-die-if-you-leave-a-fan-running-in-a-closed-room?rq=1 and http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/617/can-using-an-air-conditioner-while-sleeping-be-harmful?lq=1 – JasonR Jun 18 '12 at 13:06
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    I think this is different. We are talking about air blowing at you, not just being on in the room. Much more likely to have a real effect – Andrey Jun 18 '12 at 13:34
  • @Brightblades, neither of those questions are like what I am asking. – Linger Jun 18 '12 at 13:46
  • Welcome to Skeptics, we require questions here to be about notable claims that are held to be true by a significant number of people. We have already two related questions on the site, but if you can show the notability of your third, different claim this question could be reopened. – Mad Scientist Jun 18 '12 at 14:33
  • I said _related_ because if you look at the answers, some do indeed talk about other effects of fans and air conditioning going in a room (i.e. dry air and such). :) – JasonR Jun 18 '12 at 14:46
  • This is a pretty common meme. I added some links for notablity – Chad Jun 19 '12 at 14:17
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    Is this a dupe of this question? http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/88/cold-and-catching-colds-temperature-and-disease – Sam I Am Jun 19 '12 at 14:22
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    @SamIAm - I do not think so but I think it is probably related. – Chad Jun 20 '12 at 12:31
  • These are all symptoms of dust mite allergies as well - if the fan is blowing dust all over, then it could be an allergic reaction. You may not normally be reactive to dust mites, but then you don't normally have a fan blowing them into you face all night either. – coburne Jul 22 '14 at 15:29

1 Answers1

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There is inconclusive evidence.

The Cochrane Review found there is inconclusive evidence to support whether or not electric fans may cause an adverse effect on one’s health1.

Citation

1Electric fans for reducing adverse health impacts in heatwaves

Ruut
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