Facts About the Common Cold

What Is a Cold?

• Colds are typically minor infections of the nose and throat (upper respiratory tract) caused by more than 200 different respiratory viruses. Rhinoviruses are the most common cause of colds in the U.S. Parainfluenza viruses, adenoviruses, enteroviruses, human metapneumovirus and common human coronaviruses also cause colds.
• A cold may last for about one week, but some colds last longer, especially in children, the elderly and those in poor health.
• Adults get an average of two to three colds per year, mostly between September and May.
• Children suffer from more colds per year than adults.
• Colds are highly contagious. They most often spread through droplets of fluid from an infected person sneezing or coughing. These droplets can enter your body through breathing them in or touching a contaminated surface then touching your eyes, nose or mouth.

What Can Be Done If You Catch a Cold?

The common cold does not have a treatment but should get better on its own.

Over-the-counter medications can provide temporary relief of symptoms and help you feel better.  They do not cure your illness.  Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist about over-the-counter medication and mention any other prescription you are taking or medical condition you have.

Over-the-counter cough/cold medicines are not recommended for children younger than 6 years old. Young children can have acetaminophen or ibuprofen for fever. Be sure to discuss all medication choices with a healthcare provider.

In addition to medication,

• Get plenty of rest
• Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of fluids
• Use a clean humidifier or cool mist vaporizer
• Use saline nasal spray or drops
• Breathe in steam from a running shower
• Use lozenges or cough drops (not for children under 4)
• Use honey to relieve cough (must be at least 1 year old)

What Can You Do to Prevent a Cold?

Colds are extremely difficult to prevent entirely. The following suggestions may help:

• Avoid close contact with people who have a cold, especially during the first few days when they are most likely to spread the infection.
• Wash your hands after touching someone who has a cold, after touching an object they have touched, and after blowing your nose. If a child has a cold, wash his or her toys after play.
• Keep fingers away from your nose and eyes to avoid infecting yourself with cold virus particles you may have been picked up.

Learn more ways to help prevent colds.

Keep your cold to yourself. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing, then throw the tissue away and wash hands. Stay home when you are sick. Also, stay away from people who are most vulnerable, including older adults and anyone who has asthma or another chronic lung disease, or at least try to limit close contact.

Complications of a Cold

Colds get better within a few days to weeks, whether or not a person takes medication. However, a cold virus can pave the way for other infections to invade the body, including sinus or ear infections and acute bronchitis. A common complication is a sinus infection with a prolonged cough. If you have asthma, chronic bronchitis, or emphysema, the symptoms from those conditions may be worsened for many weeks even after the cold has gone away.

Post-infectious cough, usually without phlegm, may last for weeks to months after the cold goes away and may keep a person up at night. This cough has been associated with asthma-like symptoms, and can be treated with asthma medications. Consult a healthcare provider if you have this kind of cough.

Talk to a healthcare provider if you experience any of the following:

• Unusually severe cold symptoms;
• High fever or a fever that lasts longer than 4 days;
• Dehydration
• Difficulty breathing;
• Symptoms that last more than 10 days without getting better;
• Cough that gets worse while other cold symptoms improve; or
• Flare-up of any chronic lung condition, such as asthma.

Learn more about how to keep your lungs healthy »