THE COMMON COLD

The common cold is a generic name given to around 200 viruses which can affect the human upper respiratory tract, and which all have similar symptoms; sore throat, cough, runny nose, sneezing and so on. They are typically transmitted via airborne droplets, which is why particular close proximity groups such as school classes tend to get them at the same time. Adults typically get a cold up to half a dozen times a year, children more often.

Being viruses, antibiotics do not have any effect on colds (though they may ameliorate some of the symptoms). Beating them requires the body's immune system to get going, which is why colds have at times in history wreaked havoc on populations with no immunity (eg eskimos exposed to European explorers). Weather conditions play a role; but that is because some of the viruses are more prevalent in cold, wet weather, not because cold, wet weather weakens your immune system.

Colds are often confused with influenza, which produces similar symptoms, though in a more severe form. Yet flu is caused by a different set of viruses, which tend to be more virulent and much more likely to result in death. Asian bird flu is the big worry at the moment; though the biggest pandemic was probably the Spanish flu outbreak in 1918-20, which is widely held to have killed more people than the First World War (i.e. a lot). People at risk such as the elderly can get flu jabs; but they only vaccinate against known strains, and these mutate all the time.

The reason I am musing about all of this is that I am currently in the middle of my first cold of 2012, which happens to be quite a severe one. Not severe enough to stop me blogging, but close.

Walter Blotscher