The Common Cold

By: Nysa Vinod & Aaria Lankireddy

Credit: Freepik

Most people have had a cold before. If you haven’t, consider yourself lucky. It can’t kill you but it isn’t fun. A cold is a viral infection that usually lasts from a day to a week. The scientific name is "viral rhinitis" or "acute viral nasopharyngitis". A cold is a virus that enters your body through your nose, mouth, or eyes. However, cold air can irritate an existing condition, like asthma, which can make your body more susceptible to a cold virus. 

Symptoms

Some symptoms of a cold are:

• Stuffy nose

• Runny nose

• Cough

• Sore throat

• Sneezing

• Phlegm ( fancy word for mucus)

• Pain in muscles

• Headaches

• Wheezing

• Fatigue

• Fever

Tips for a cold

 “Nothing can cure a cold, which is caused by germs called viruses” ( Mayo Clinic, July 12, 2024)

You need to take LOTS of rest. You can boil water and put a cloth over your head and pot. This allows the steam to melt the mucus in your nose throat and forehead. Make sure you stay hydrated. Eating some honey can help with a cough. A humidifier can help add cold moisture to the air which helps with a stuffy or runny nose. Vicks Cold and Cough Vapo Rub helps mucus go away and eases cough. Vapor rub consist of camphor, eucalyptus, and menthol which provide relief. Running hot steam water with turmeric  under a towel and inhaling helps clear airway passage. Get a flu vaccine: The flu shot is recommended each fall.

Complications with a Cold

A cold virus can make way for other infections to invade the body, including sinus or ear infections and acute bronchitis, a walking pneumonia and asthma.. A common complication is a sinus infection with a prolonged cough. A Pneumonia is a lung infection that causes the air sacs in the lungs to fill with fluid or pus, making breathing difficult and painful.

Asthma

Patients with Asthma can get aggressive breathing problems when suffering from cold due to the airway being cold and dry. Drink a lot of water, broth-based soups to keep warm and decaffeinated tea to keep yourself hydrated is one of the best ways to combat asthma as well as inhaler. You may be given treatments such as oxygen therapy and bronchodilators. These are medicines that help you breathe easier and open up your airways. You may also be given steroids to help get the inflammation in your airways under control.

Sinus Infection

A cold can cause inflammation of your sinus tissue (sinusitis), which can lead to a sinus infection if symptoms last more than 10 days. They may include things like: Thick, yellow, foul-smelling discharge from your nose Pressure or pain around your face and eyes Forehead Headache nose blocked Congestion Postnasal drip A cold that won't go away or gets worse. Fever or cough. Acute sinus infection lasts 3-8 weeks. A sinus infection lasting longer than 8 weeks is considered chronic. An infection of the sinus cavity close to the brain can be life threatening, if not treated. In rare cases, it can spread to the brain. The sinuses are air-filled cavities located in: 

• Within the bony structure of the cheeks

• Behind the forehead and eyebrows

• On either side of the bridge of the nose

• Behind the nose directly in front of the brain

Walking Pneumonia

"Walking pneumonia" is a mild case of pneumonia. A more medically correct term would be atypical pneumonia and can be caused by certain molds, viruses or bacteria; often a common bacterium called Mycoplasma pneumonia. Bed rest or hospitalization are usually not needed, and symptoms can be mild enough that you can continue your daily activities, hence the term "walking." (American Lung Association, April 2023). A 5- to 10-day course of oral antibiotics is usually recommended. The CDC says, since antibiotics for kids such as amoxicillin and penicillin don’t kill this type of bacteria. There has been an increasing rate this year in pneumonia due to the detection test called multiplex test.  (CNN.com, Goodman, Brenda, October 25, 2024)

Sources

Cold remedies: What works, what doesn’t. (n.d.). Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/common-cold/in-depth/cold-remedies/art-20046403#:~:text=Drink%20plenty%20of%20fluids.,Ease%20stuffiness

American Lung Association. (n.d.). What Is Walking Pneumonia? https://www.lung.org/blog/what-is-walking-pneumonia

Goodman, B. (2024, October 25). Cases of walking pneumonia are surging in kids this year, CDC Reports. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/25/health/walking-pneumonia-surging-kids/index.html