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Common Cold
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Problem Overview
A common cold is an infection of your upper respiratory tract. It's relatively harmless — but it sure doesn't feel that way when you have one. If it's not a runny nose, sore throat and a cough, it's watery eyes, sneezing and miserable congestion. Or maybe all of the above. In fact, because any one of more than 200 viruses can cause a common cold, symptoms tend to vary greatly.
Unfortunately, if you're like most adults, you're likely to have a common cold two to four times a year. Children, especially preschoolers, may have a common cold as many as eight to ten times annually.
The good news is that you or your child should be feeling better in about a week. If symptoms aren't improving in that time, see your doctor to make sure you don't have a bacterial infection in your lungs, larynx, trachea, sinuses or ears.
Signs and symptoms
Symptoms of a common cold usually appear about one to three days after exposure to a cold virus. Signs and symptoms of a common cold may include:
- Runny or stuffy nose
- Itchy or sore throat
- Cough
- Congestion
- Slight body aches or a mild headache
- Sneezing
- Watery eyes
- Low fever — less than 102 F
- Mild fatigue
The discharge from your nose may become thicker and yellow or green in color as a common cold runs its course. What makes a cold different from other viral infections is that you generally won't have a high fever. You're also unlikely to experience significant fatigue from a common cold.
Causes
Although more than 200 viruses can cause a common cold, the rhinovirus is the most common culprit. Many cold viruses are highly contagious.
A cold virus enters your body through your mouth or nose, but it's likely you also had a "hand" in your own illness. Although a common cold can spread through sneezing and coughing, it often spreads by hand-to-hand contact with someone who has a cold or by using shared objects, such as utensils, towels, toys or telephones. Touch your eyes, nose or mouth after such contact or exposure, and you're likely to acquire a common cold.
Risk factors
Children are especially susceptible to common colds because they haven't yet developed resistance to most of the viruses that cause them. But an immature immune system isn't the only thing that makes kids vulnerable. They also tend to spend lots of time with other children and aren't always careful about washing their hands, which makes it easy for a common cold to spread.
As you age, you develop immunity to many of the viruses that cause common colds. You'll have colds less frequently than you did as a child, but you're at increased risk when you:
- Spend most of your time indoors and in close contact with other people
- Have an allergic reaction that affects your nasal passages
- Have psychological stress
- Both children and adults are most susceptible to common colds in fall and winter, when children are in school and most people are spending a lot of time indoors. In places where there is no winter, common colds are more frequent in the rainy season.
Other common beliefs about how you catch a common cold — such as going outdoors with wet hair or getting chilled, for example — have never been proved in clinical studies.
When to seek medical advice
A common cold generally goes away in about a week, although it may not disappear as quickly as you'd like. If your signs and symptoms last longer than a week, you may have a more serious illness, such as the flu or pneumonia.
Seek medical attention if you have:
- Fever greater than 102 F
- High fever accompanied by achiness and fatigue
- Fever accompanied by sweating, chills and a cough with colored phlegm
- Symptoms that get worse instead of better
In general, children are sicker with a common cold than adults are and often suffer from complications such as ear infections. Your child doesn't need to see the doctor for a routine common cold, but you'll need to seek medical attention right away if your child has any of the following signs or symptoms:
- Fever of 103 F or higher, chills or sweating
- Fever that lasts more than 72 hours
- Vomiting or abdominal pain
- Unusual sleepiness
- Severe headache
- Difficulty breathing
- Persistent crying
- Ear pain
Complications
The most common complication of common colds in children is an acute ear infection (otitis media), which occurs when bacteria infiltrate the space behind the eardrum. Typical signs and symptoms include earaches and, in some cases, a green or yellow discharge from the nose or the return of a fever following a common cold. Children who are too young to verbalize their distress may simply cry or pull on the affected ear.
Unlike a common cold, ear infections may require treatment with antibiotics. Young children and children with chronic health problems are most likely to need antibiotics to treat an ear infection.
In adults or children, a common cold that doesn't resolve may lead to sinusitis. Other secondary infections that may develop following a common cold include strep throat (streptococcal pharyngitis), chronic bronchitis and pneumonia. These infections need to be treated by a doctor.
Treatment
There's no cure for the common cold. Antibiotics are of no use against cold viruses, and over-the-counter cold preparations won't cure a common cold or make it go away any sooner. However, over-the-counter medications can relieve some symptoms.
For fever, sore throat and headache, try acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) or other mild pain relievers. Don't give aspirin to children, because it may have a role in causing Reye's syndrome, a rare but potentially fatal disease.
For runny nose and nasal congestion, you can take an antihistamine or decongestant. Don't use decongestant drops and sprays for more than a few days, though, because prolonged use can cause chronic inflammation of your mucous membranes. And don't give them to children under age 2. There's little evidence that they work in young children, and they may cause side effects.
Prevention
Because so many different viruses can cause a common cold, no effective vaccine has been developed. But you can take some common-sense precautions to slow the spread of cold viruses:
Wash your hands. Clean your hands frequently and teach your children the importance of hand washing.
Scrub your stuff. Keep kitchen and bathroom countertops clean, especially when someone in your family has a common cold. Wash your child's toys after play if your child has a common cold.
Use tissues. Always sneeze and cough into tissues. Discard used tissues right away.
Be a little selfish. Don't share drinking glasses or utensils with other family members. Use your own glass or disposable cups when you or someone else is sick.
Steer clear of colds. Avoid close, prolonged contact with anyone who has a common cold.
Choose your child-care center wisely. Look for a child-care setting with sound hygiene practices and clear policies about keeping sick children at home.
Many people believe that the herb Echinacea, the mineral zinc or megadoses of vitamin C can help prevent common colds. Studies haven't found these claims to be true, and these products may have side effects.
Self-care
You may not be able to cure your common cold, but you can make yourself as comfortable as possible. These tips may help:
Drink lots of fluids. Avoid alcohol, caffeine and cigarette smoke, which can cause dehydration and aggravate your symptoms.
Get some rest. Consider staying home from work if you have a fever or a bad cough, or are drowsy from medications. This will give you a chance to rest as well as reduce the chances that you'll infect others. Wear a mask when you have a cold if you live or work with someone with a chronic disease or compromised immune system.
Adjust your room's temperature and humidity. Keep your room warm, but not overheated. If the air is dry, a cool-mist humidifier or vaporizer can moisten the air and help ease congestion and coughing. Be sure to keep the humidifier clean to prevent the growth of bacteria and molds.
Soothe your throat. Gargling with warm salt water several times a day or drinking warm lemon water with honey may help soothe a sore throat and relieve a cough.
Use nasal drops. To help relieve nasal congestion, try saline nasal drops. You can purchase these drops over-the-counter, and they're effective, safe and nonirritating, even for children. To use them, instill several drops into one nostril, then immediately bulb suction that nostril. Repeat the process in the opposite nostril.
Courtesy articles provided by www.mayoclinic.com
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