33
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Would the human seasonal coronaviruses be just as deadly as COVID-19 in a population with no prior immunity?
The seasonal coronaviruses attach exclusively to cells with a ciliated epithelium.
Coronaviruses invade the respiratory tract via the nose. After an incubation period of about 3 days, they cause the ...
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21
votes
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Do zinc lozenges really help the common cold?
Overall, there has been inconsistent data on the effects of using zinc lozenges to treat the common cold. Most studies have also been done on children, which may lead to more uncertainty about its ...
- 7,729
14
votes
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Can being cold or wet be a significant influence in getting the common cold?
This is a pretty old old-wives tale, taking many forms: don't go out into the cold while it's raining, or without a hat, with wet hair, without a warm coat or scarf, without boots, etc., "or you'll ...
- 8,870
11
votes
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How long is someone infectious after a cold?
Tl;dr - More contagious at the beginning, much less at the end.
The "common cold" (or upper respiratory infection) is associated with over 200 different viral types1, and many times more than one ...
- 5,097
9
votes
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How can I prevent a cold from spreading to the people around me?
There are lots of things you can do to be a responsible and considerate individual. Props for even asking this question!
Cover your cough to prevent air-borne transmission with the inner part of your ...
- 4,866
9
votes
What determines whether an influenza virus causes the flu or a cold?
Is Influenza the disease simply a shorthand for a disease caused by an
Influenza virus that happens to clinically present as worse than a
cold?
Pretty much. You have to bear in mind that until the ...
- 911
8
votes
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Will there ever be a universal vaccine for the common cold?
If I get infected once with the virus which causes a common cold, does that mean I will not get infected with the same strain of the virus ever in my lifetime?
It depends on quirks of your immune ...
- 8,870
7
votes
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Catch a cold from the grass?
No, you can't catch a cold from plants. You can, however, inhale lots of grass pollen because...
we would run around and lots of dried grass dust would get kicked up.
The second clue it's a pollen ...
- 9,592
7
votes
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Increase immunity to common cold and cough
The "common cold" is a syndrome that is characterized by signs and symptoms of upper respiratory infection: sneezing, itchy or watery eyes, rhinorrhea, cough, and sinus congestion. Malaise (the ...
- 201
7
votes
Can being cold or wet be a significant influence in getting the common cold?
This is an old wives tale. Being cold in and off itself will not cause you to catch a cold because a cold is viral. 3
However, being cold for a long time can lower your immune response and if your ...
6
votes
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Is a general vaccine against getting a cold possible?
The problem with treating "the common cold" is that it's really a large collection of similar illnesses caused by completely different strains of virus. The effects are similar, but the ...
- 1,838
5
votes
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Difference between common cold and flu?
Symptoms, in short:
Common cold: blocked nose, yellow/green mucus, scratchy throat lasting for 7-14 days (usually no headache, fever or fatigue), year round
Hay fever (allergy to pollens): runny ...
- 15.7k
5
votes
Difference between common cold and flu?
In general a cold (usually rhinovirus), Influenza, or even a bacterial infection can have quite similar symptoms. If contracted through airborne particles, they primarily affect the respiratory system....
- 198
5
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Effect of the common cold on the immune system
I've written on this subject a few times, but the most relevant question ended up being closed, and the other is on Bio.SE, so I will mostly focus on tailoring the information there to the specifics ...
- 1,846
5
votes
Can being cold or wet be a significant influence in getting the common cold?
My experience has been that when I, or someone in my family, gets chilled, this seems to increase the chance of coming down with a cold. I tried searching on google for this, and found this article, ...
- 470
5
votes
How can I prevent a cold from spreading to the people around me?
I'd like to offer a different perspective.
DaveL's answer is helpful if you absolutely have to carry on being a "productive" person and attend critical events for your career or life in general, all ...
- 501
5
votes
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Does efficacy of the flu vaccine change if received while sick with the common-cold?
No, it doesn't
Vaccines contain the same antigens (or parts of antigens) that cause diseases. For example, measles vaccine contains measles virus. But the antigens in vaccines are either killed, or ...
- 6,732
5
votes
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Can common cold really be lethal?
It is extremely unlikely that common cold as such would kill you, but the complications could.
The definition of a common cold is a viral infection of the nose and throat as reflected from its Latin ...
- 15.7k
5
votes
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What would happen to the body if the immune system failed to respond to a rhinovirus?
This was answered very well by @anongoodnurse in Biology.SE question What are the effects of the common cold in an immunodeficient person? plus there was a study by Bowden (1997) which indicated that:
...
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5
votes
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What is the Fatality Rate of the Common Cold?
SARS-Cov-2 is a distinct virus that causes a distinct disease: COVID-19.
Virus influenzae is a distinct virus (or a term for a small group of similar viruses) that causes a distinct disease: seasonal ...
- 15.7k
4
votes
How to handle cold in summers with nose bleeding issues?
I can't address how you can avoid your body temperature rising with certain foods like almonds or raisins, as I'm unfamiliar with that issue. Soups can be eaten cold or at room temperature, and you ...
- 8,870
4
votes
Accepted
How fast can a common cold progress/develop into pneumonia?
First, the definitions: A common cold (or "head cold") is a viral infection of the nose and throat. Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs. Tracheitis and bronchitis can be refered as a "chest cold" ...
- 15.7k
4
votes
Who to go to for diagnosis of random seizures?
I'll be answering this question in the way @DaveL edited the post.
The specialist you should go to is a neurologist. They are the ones who are most qualified when it comes to seizures.
In the mean ...
- 441
4
votes
Swallowing mucus gaves me sore throat?
Naturally, your nasal passageways and sinuses drain down into the back of your throat - and you swallow the drainage without even realizing it. In the diagram below, it's the oropharynx where your ...
- 5,714
4
votes
Would the human seasonal coronaviruses be just as deadly as COVID-19 in a population with no prior immunity?
I should add here that there has been a case of ARDS reported for the alphacoronavirus 229E (i.e. a "common cold" coronavirus) in 2018. But ARDS occurrences are of course, much less common in these "...
- 5,918
3
votes
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What are the actual symptoms of the common cold?
Common cold is one of the labels used to describe non specific infection of the upper respiratory tract. Other labels include acute rhinitis, acute rhinopharyngitis or acute coryza.
Upper respiratory ...
- 3,194
3
votes
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Accidentally took cold medicine an hour early
The main concern here is whether you took more than a recommended daily and more than a recommended single dose. That being said, people are different (in body mass, metabolism, health status etc.), ...
- 2,823
3
votes
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The Common Cold - what does the name refer to?
The thing to recognize is that until the past century, they didn't know that a cold was a virus, but may well have associated it more with actual effects caused by the cold. Indeed, this line at ...
- 220
3
votes
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Ginger or garlic and common cold?
I haven't been able to find anything useful about ginger, but I've found some publications about garlic and - to make long story short - there is lack of good quality evidence for its effectiveness. ...
3
votes
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Is this study stating red algae reduces cold virus by 92% believable?
Looking at this from the perspective of an infectious disease epidemiologist, the kind of person who often reads (and occasionally runs) studies of this type, I'm skeptical. A number of reasons why:
...
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Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible