Common Cold

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 Common Cold


P.K.Ghatak, MD

No.39



The common cold is really very common. It is said that every adult gets 2 attacks and every child 6 attacks of the common cold every year.

There are approximately 200 different viruses responsible for the common cold, including three groups of coronaviruses; however, Rhinovirus is responsible for about 50% of the common cold cases. The common cold is also called a Head Cold and a Viral URI (viral upper respiratory infection)

Rhinovirus is an RNA virus. It thrives in the nose because the virus prefers a temperature of 89 degrees F, and the nose's temperature is very close to this, as opposed to the core body temperature of 98.6 degrees F. It is also true that exposure to cold makes a person susceptible to rhinovirus infection.

 Viruses are living organisms but behave like inert particles, like darts, until the virus gets a foothold in a living cell. The virus then enters inside the cell and directs the cell's DNA / RNA to copy the virus particles. In the end, the cell walls are broken open and viruses are released, newly released viruses infect more healthy cells. The rhinovirus uses ICAM receptors to attach to the nasal epithelium and then enter inside the cell.

In early human history, common cold viruses found humans an easy target to attack. The human immune system is unable to maintain a good defense against common cold viruses. Rhinovirus mutates easily, sometimes several times in one year. This is one of the main reasons an effective vaccine is difficult to manufacture.

Children of nursery-going age, young adults on college campuses, military recruits, people on cruise ships, sailors on submarines and other ocean-going vessels, and institutional residents are prone to repeated attacks of common colds.

Infants and young children suffer the most because their airways are narrow and they are not able to cough up sputum. Elderly and disabled nursing home patients develop complications more often than any other group and also die in a higher proportion.

The common cold lasts for 5 days in otherwise normal adults; people with chronic lung diseases, an attack of common cold makes them susceptible to a bacterial infection.

There is no vaccine for the common cold.



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