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The Common Cold
Sneezing, scratchy throat, runny nose -- everyone knows the first signs of a cold, probably the most common illness
known. Although the common cold is usually mild, with symptoms lasting one to two weeks, it is a
leading cause of doctor visits and of school and job absenteeism.
The Problem
In the course of a year, individuals in the United States suffer 1 billion colds, according to some
estimates.
Colds are most prevalent among children, and seem to be related to youngsters' relative lack of
resistance to infection and to contacts with other children in day-care centers and schools. Children
have about six to ten colds a year. In families with children in school, the number of colds per child can be as high
as 12 a year. Adults average about two to four colds a year, although the range varies widely. Women, especially
those aged 20 to 30 years, have more colds than men, possibly because of their closer contact with
children. On average, individuals older than 60 have fewer than one cold a year.
The economic impact of the common cold is enormous. The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)
estimates that, in 1996, 62 million cases of the common cold in the United States required
medical attention or resulted in restricted activity. In 1996, colds caused 45 million days of
restricted activity and 22 million days lost from school, according to NCHS.
The Causes
The Viruses. More than 200 different viruses are known to cause the
symptoms of the common cold. Some, such as the rhinoviruses, seldom produce serious illnesses.
Others, such as parainfluenza and respiratory syncytial virus, produce mild infections in adults
but can precipitate severe lower respiratory infections in young children.
Rhinoviruses (from the Greek rhin, meaning "nose") cause an estimated 30 to 35
percent of all adult colds, and are most active in early fall, spring and summer. More
than 110 distinct rhinovirus types have been identified. These agents grow best at
temperatures of 33 degrees Celsius [about 91 degrees Fahrenheit (F)], the temperature of
the human nasal mucosa.
Coronaviruses are believed to cause a large percentage of all adult colds. They induce
colds primarily in the winter and early spring. Of the more than 30 isolated strains,
three or four infect humans. The importance of coronaviruses as causative agents is hard to
assess because, unlike rhinoviruses, they are difficult to grow in the laboratory.
Approximately 10 to 15 percent of adult colds are caused by viruses also responsible
for other, more severe illnesses: adenoviruses, coxsackieviruses, echoviruses,
orthomyxoviruses (including influenza A and B viruses), paramyxoviruses (including several
parainfluenza viruses), respiratory syncytial virus and enteroviruses.
The causes of 30 to 50 percent of adult colds, presumed to be viral, remain unidentified.
The same viruses that produce colds in adults appear to cause colds in children. The relative
importance of various viruses in pediatric colds, however, is unclear because of the
difficulty in isolating the precise cause of symptoms in studies of children with colds.
Does cold weather cause a cold? Although many people are
convinced that a cold results from exposure to cold weather, or from getting
chilled or overheated, NIAID grantees have found that these conditions have little or no
effect on the development or severity of a cold. Nor is susceptibility apparently
related to factors such as exercise, diet, or enlarged tonsils or adenoids. On the other
hand, research suggests that psychological stress, allergic disorders affecting the
nasal passages or pharynx (throat), and menstrual cycles may have an impact on a
person's susceptibility to colds.
The Cold Season
In the United States, most colds occur during the fall and winter. Beginning
in late August or early September, the incidence of colds increases slowly for
a few weeks and remains high until March or April, when it declines. The
seasonal variation may relate to the opening of schools and to cold weather, which prompt
people to spend more time indoors and increase the chances that viruses will spread
from person to person.
Seasonal changes in relative humidity also may affect the prevalence of colds. The most common
cold-causing viruses survive better when humidity is low—the colder months of the
year. Cold weather also may make the nasal passages' lining drier and more vulnerable to
viral infection.
Cold Symptoms
Symptoms of the common cold usually begin two to three days after infection and
often include nasal discharge, obstruction of nasal breathing,
swelling of the sinus membranes, sneezing, sore throat, cough, and headache. Fever is
usually slight but can climb to 102o F in infants and young children. Cold
symptoms can last from two to 14 days, but two-thirds of people recover in a week. If
symptoms occur often or last much longer than two weeks, they may be the result of an
allergy rather than a cold.
Colds occasionally can lead to secondary bacterial infections of the middle ear or sinuses,
requiring treatment with antibiotics. High fever, significantly swollen glands, severe
facial pain in the sinuses, and a cough that produces mucus, may indicate a complication
or more serious illness requiring a doctor's attention.
How Cold Viruses Cause Disease
Viruses cause infection by overcoming the body's complex defense system. The body's first
line of defense is mucus, produced by the membranes in the nose and throat. Mucus traps the
material we inhale: pollen, dust, bacteria and viruses. When a virus penetrates the
mucus and enters a cell, it commandeers the protein-making machinery to manufacture new
viruses which, in turn, attack surrounding cells.
Cold symptoms: the body fights back. Cold symptoms are probably
the result of the body's immune response to the viral invasion. Virus-infected cells in
the nose send out signals that recruit specialized white blood cells to the site of the
infection. In turn, these cells emit a range of immune system chemicals such as kinins.
These chemicals probably lead to the symptoms of the common cold by causing swelling
and inflammation of the nasal membranes, leakage of proteins and fluid from capillaries
and lymph vessels, and the increased production of mucus.
Kinins and other chemicals released by immune system cells in the nasal membranes are the
subject of intensive research. Researchers are examining whether drugs to block them, or the
receptors on cells to which they bind, might benefit people with colds.
How Colds are Spread
Depending on the virus type, any or all of the following routes of transmission may be common:
- Touching infectious respiratory secretions on skin and on environmental surfaces
and then touching the eyes or nose.
- Inhaling relatively large particles of respiratory secretions transported
briefly in the air.
- Inhaling droplet nuclei: smaller infectious particles suspended in the air for
long periods of time.
Research on rhinovirus transmission. Much of the research on
the transmission of the common cold has been done with rhinoviruses, which
are shed in the highest concentration in nasal secretions. Studies suggest a person is
most likely to transmit rhinoviruses in the second to fourth day of infection, when the
amount of virus in nasal secretions is highest. Researchers also have shown that
using aspirin to treat colds increases the amount of virus shed in nasal secretions,
possibly making the cold sufferer more of a hazard to others.
Prevention
Handwashing is the simplest and most effective way to keep from getting rhinovirus
colds. Not touching the nose or eyes is another. Individuals with
colds should always sneeze or cough into a facial tissue, and promptly throw it away. If
possible, one should avoid close, prolonged exposure to persons who have colds.
Because rhinoviruses can survive up to three hours outside the nasal passages on inanimate
objects and skin, cleaning environmental surfaces with a virus-killing disinfectant
might help prevent spread of infection.
A cold vaccine? The development of a vaccine that could prevent
the common cold has reached an impasse because of the discovery of many different cold viruses.
Each virus carries its own specific antigens, substances that induce the formation of specific
protective proteins (antibodies) produced by the body. Until ways are found to combine
many viral antigens in one vaccine, or take advantage of the antigenic cross-relationships
that exist, prospects for a vaccine are dim. Evidence that changes occur in common-cold
virus antigens further complicate development of a vaccine. Such changes occur in some
influenza virus antigens and make it necessary to alter the influenza vaccine each year.
Treatment
Only symptomatic treatment is available for uncomplicated cases of the common cold: bed
rest, plenty of fluids, gargling with warm salt water, petroleum jelly for a raw nose,
and aspirin or acetaminophen to relieve headache or fever.
A word of caution: several studies have linked the use of aspirin to the
development of Reye's syndrome in children recovering from influenza or
chickenpox. Reye's syndrome is a rare but serious illness that usually occurs
in children between the ages of three and 12 years. It can affect all organs of the body,
but most often injures the brain and liver. While most children who survive an episode of
Reye's syndrome do not suffer any lasting consequences, the illness can lead to
permanent brain damage or death. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children and
teenagers not be given aspirin or any medications containing aspirin when they have
any viral illness, particularly chickenpox or influenza. Many doctors recommend these
medications be used for colds in adults only when headache or fever is present.
Researchers, however, have found that aspirin and acetaminophen can suppress certain immune
responses and increase nasal stuffiness in adults.
Nonprescription cold remedies, including decongestants and cough suppressants, may
relieve some cold symptoms but will not prevent, cure, or even shorten the duration of
illness. Moreover, most have some side effects, such as drowsiness, dizziness, insomnia,
or upset stomach, and should be taken with care.
Nonprescription antihistamines may have some effect in relieving infle
concentrating on other approaches to combatting cold viruses.
The Outlook
Thanks to basic research, scientists know more about the rhinovirus than almost any other virus,
and have powerful new tools for developing antiviral drugs. Although the common cold may
never be uncommon, further investigations offer the hope of reducing the huge burden of
this universal problem.
NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIAID supports basic and applied research to
prevent, diagnose, and treat infectious and immune-mediated illnesses, including HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases,
tuberculosis, malaria, autoimmune disorders, asthma and allergies.
Prepared by:
Office of Communications and Public Liaison
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD 20892
Public Health Service
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
March 2001
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Last Updated 03.26.01 (dkc)
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