The Common Cold

The common cold may seem like an unavoidable and relatively harmless yearly hassle, but the numbers and facts behind the illness are sometimes surprising. Click below to learn more about the common cold and some common misconceptions about the illness.

People in the United States suffer up to 1 billion colds per year, according to an estimate by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Other studies place the common cold as the top cause of U.S. doctor visits and missed work days, in addition to 22 million lost school days a year.

Children get about six to 10 colds per year, with adults catching, on average, two to four colds per year. People over age 60 average less than one cold a year. Children are thought to catch colds more frequently because their poor hygiene and proximity to other children in day care and school settings make transmission of germs easier.

More than 200 different viruses cause the common cold. Rhinoviruses are responsible for 30 to 35 percent of adult colds, mostly in early fall, spring and summer. Different viruses, called coronaviruses, cause colds mainly in the winter and early spring. The cause of 30 percent to 50 percent of all adult colds remains a mystery, but the culprit germs are presumed to be viruses.

Once sneezed out or transferred by hand, rhinovirus germs can live outside the human nose for up to three hours. Other people can become infected with these germs either by contact with invisible airborne mucus droplets or by touching the infected person's skin, or objects an infected person may have touched, such as telephones, keyboards, elevator buttons or stair railings, and then in turn their own noses, mouths or eyes.

There is no pharmaceutical cure for the cold. Over-the-counter cold medicines actually work to ease the symptoms of a cold infection. No studies have shown that alternative therapies like large doses of vitamin C or herbs like echinacea can prevent colds. Researchers have also found that taking aspirin to treat cold symptoms may actually increase the amount of virus in nasal secretions.

Studies in the past have shown that being outside in the cold, having wet hair or staying in dry environments do not make you more susceptible to catching a cold. But, during the fall and winter, when it's colder outside, more people stay indoors. It is because of their closer proximity to other potentially infected people in these enclosed environments that people are more likely to catch and transmit cold viruses.

Drinking milk will not increase nasal mucus during a cold, studies have shown. And inhaling steam is not an effective long-term treatment for relieving symptoms of congestion. Neither is feeding or starving a cold, although foods like chicken soup and hot beverages may be comforting for bed-ridden cold sufferers.

Some common complications of colds include bacterial sinusitis, middle ear infections and asthma attacks. Colds are the most common trigger of asthma attacks for children with asthma, and are often the prelude to an ear infection for children.