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Review
. 2023 Jun 22:4:1224988.
doi: 10.3389/falgy.2023.1224988. eCollection 2023.

Common cold

Ronald Eccles  1
Affiliations
Review

Common cold

Ronald Eccles. Front Allergy. .

Abstract

The common cold is a unique human disease, as it is arguably the most common disease and because of the large number of respiratory viruses causing colds it is one of the most complex of human diseases. This review discusses the respiratory viruses and notes that all these viruses may cause the illness complex recognised as the common cold. The common cold is discussed as part of the "iceberg concept" of disease which ranges from asymptomatic infection to severe illness and death. The factors influencing the incidence of colds are discussed: crowding and sociability, stress, smoking and alcohol, immune status, sex, age, sleep, season, chilling, nutrition and exercise. The mechanism of symptoms related to the innate immune response is explained and symptomatic treatments are tabulated. Morbidity associated with common cold is discussed and possible vaccines.

Keywords: chilling; common cold; crowding; respiratory viruses; vitamin C; vitamin D.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Various topics that could be discussed in a review of the “Common cold”.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Iceberg concept of viral infection. Most infections result in asymptomatic or mild symptoms which may not reach a threshold to be self-diagnosed as a common cold. These infections are hidden and hence “below the water line of an iceberg”. Severe symptoms may reach a threshold to be termed “flu- like illness”and lower respiratory tract infections such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia may not be appreciated as often starting as a common cold.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Factors that may influence susceptibility and incidence of common cold.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Mechanism of symptoms.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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