MANILA, Philippines - ?Raindrops keep falling on my head...? If you?re Filipino, you?d probably sing on, ?And I?m afraid I?m going to come down with a cold.?

Funny but while people in other countries find ways to protect their books from the rain, in this country we use our books as a makeshift hat or umbrella to protect our heads or, more accurately, our fontanelle or bumbunan, believed to be terribly fragile.

This idea of a cold-inducing rain may have come about because people usually get colds during the rainy season. But correlation is not the same as causation. What actually happens is that when it rains, we tend to spend more time indoors or, if caught outdoors in the rain, to seek refuge in a place that?s often already filled with people. Statistically then, chances are high that we?re actually rushing into a place where there are more people carrying the cold virus, and since everyone huddles together, that the bug would spread more rapidly.

When you think about it then, you?d actually be better off dancing in the rain?if it?s a cold you?re trying to avoid.

We also have another peculiar concept about rain-associated illnesses, one which we usually associate with the month of August. When it rains and the weather is particularly hot, many Filipinos believe that the water hitting the hot earth sends off vapors (singaw) that can cause stomach ache, if not diarrhea. Again, the belief might have come about because the incidence of gastrointestinal diseases sometimes rises during the rainy season, mainly because food can be contaminated by flood waters.

But many of our public health problems predate the discovery of germs. Explanations in the past tended to focus on the environment and, let?s face it, the combination of heat and rains does seem terribly unnatural. Add on the Filipino?s emphasis on smells, good and bad, and it?s not surprising that we create this notion of heat-and-water vapors causing diarrhea. (Have you noticed, too, how we sometimes blame very strong odors?including people?s odors?for a stomach ache?)

While we fret about raindrops on our head, and singaw from the earth, we tend to neglect very real public health risks that do emerge when it rains, and especially when it floods. Dance in the rain if you must, to celebrate a tikbalang?s wedding (another folk belief when it rains while the sun is shining), but do be careful. Strong rains make the streets more dangerous, and the dangers include open manholes waiting for victims to fall in. I had a distant aunt who actually died, in Taipei, many years ago after falling into one of these death traps.

If the rains keep going and it begins to flood, health risks begin to amplify. Especially in our crowded cities, flood waters carry people?s garbage and their disease-causing germs. The chances of catching diseases simply by skin contact with floodwaters isn?t that high, but you do run risks from nasty ailments like leptospirosis, which is transmitted through rats? urine, that you don?t come into direct contact with under normal circumstances. Our Department of Health reports a few cases each year--and not surprisingly, it?s usually in flooded areas. Similar to a serious case of flu, this bacterial disease is rarely fatal but can be very debilitating.

In urban poor areas, it?s not unusual to see children playing out in the flood waters. While skin contact with the waters might not be a problem, swimming in the flood could mean ingesting the water, which becomes more problematic. In fact, households should take extra precaution even with the water in their homes, because damaged pipes could mean a contaminated household supply from all that flood. Boil your drinking water just to be sure, especially if it?s going to be used for infants, children and the elderly, whose immune systems may be weaker.

Keep the kids away from outdoor ?swimming pools.? People have actually drowned in floodwaters. Unlike a swimming pool, where you know which parts are shallow and deep, the depth of flooded streets can be a mystery. That floodwaters can extend into open excavations and top up open manholes only increases the risks.

If you or the kids decide to venture out into the streets during or after a storm, make sure to wear good footwear. Don?t go out barefoot or even with rubber slippers. You can?t see through floodwaters so you don?t know what you might be stepping on. Never mind the occasional manure, worry more about sharp objects and live electric wires submerged in the water and waiting for the next victim.

There are just too many risks that come with the typhoon season that if you can afford it and you have no urgent chores out there, you?d really be better off staying home and cozying up with a book and some comfort food.