Your alarm clock buzzes to get you out of bed. You begin to get up but this morning is different. You feel heavy, tired and fatigued, a slight fever, and aches all over your body. You realized you have been breathing through your mouth because your nose is all clogged up. You just caught the common cold. Or has it caught you? The common cold is the most frequent excuse of absences from work and school.
The common cold can last from one to two weeks. There is still no cure for it. It is caused by more than a hundred known types of viruses. Because of their overwhelming numbers and because new cold viruses relentlessly emerge, the human body is basically defenseless. The common cold is the most recurring infection in the world. Rhinoviruses are most efficient when it comes to creeping and contaminating the nasal linings.
Cold symptoms are the body’s reaction to the viral infiltration. When a cold virus gets inside, a part of the immune system is activated. The immune system cause mucus gland secretion and arouse pain nerves. Inflammatory mediators in the immune system also trigger sneezing and coughing. Although this is in reaction to the presence of the cold virus, it is not related to any recuperation from the infection.
During the first two to three days of the infection, secretions from the nose containing the cold virus is at its most highest. This is the time when it is most contagious. The cold virus easily spreads from human to human by sneezing, coughing, blowing of the nose, and surface contamination through the touching by the infected person of any surface with secretion. The cold virus is then transferred and picked-up by anybody in the nearby surroundings.
Medications are targeted at the accompanying symptoms of the common cold and not the cold virus itself. This illness is left alone and let to run its due course. Doctors recommend plenty of rest, drinking lots of fluids, and supplementing medications such as cough remedies and sore throat lozenges. Washing of hands, avoiding sharing the same utensils and towels used by someone who has a cold, and avoiding interaction with people infected with the cold virus are sure ways to prevention.
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