Common Cold

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Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Prevention and Risk Factors
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Related Issues
• Specifics

See, Play and Learn

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Research

• Statistics and Research
• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Reference Desk
• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Teenagers
• Patient Handouts

Summary

Sneezing, sore throat, a stuffy nose, coughing - everyone knows the symptoms of the common cold. It is probably the most common illness. In the course of a year, people in the United States suffer 1 billion colds.

You can get a cold by touching your eyes or nose after you touch surfaces with cold germs on them. You can also inhale the germs. Symptoms usually begin 2 or 3 days after infection and last 2 to 14 days. Washing your hands and staying away from people with colds will help you avoid colds.

There is no cure for the common cold. But there are treatments that can make you feel better while you wait for the cold to go away on its own:

• Getting plenty of rest
• Drinking fluids
• Gargling with warm salt water
• Using cough drops or throat sprays
• Taking over-the-counter pain or cold medicines

However, do not give aspirin to children. And do not give cough medicine to children under four.

Start Here

• Cold and Flu: Prevention, Symptoms, Treatments (Food and Drug Administration) Also in Spanish
• Colds and the Flu (American Academy of Family Physicians)
• Facts about the Common Cold (American Lung Association)
• Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work - Common Cold and Runny Nose (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish

Diagnosis and Tests

• Cold and Flu (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
• Cold, Flu, or Allergy? Know the Difference for Best Treatment (National Institutes of Health) Also in Spanish

Prevention and Risk Factors

• Stopping the Spread of Germs at Home, Work and School (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish

Treatments and Therapies

• Flu and Colds: In Depth (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health) Also in Spanish
• Time To Talk About Natural Products for the Flu and Colds: What Does the Science Say? (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health)

Related Issues

• Adenoviruses (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Colds, Allergies and Sinusitis - How to Tell the Difference (American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology) - PDF Also in Spanish
• Humidifiers: Air Moisture Eases Skin, Breathing Symptoms (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Limit Asthma Attacks Caused by Colds or Flu (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Respiratory Syncytial Virus (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
• Rhinovirus Infections (American Academy of Pediatrics) Also in Spanish
• Runny Nose (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)

Specifics

• Catching a Cold When It's Warm (National Institutes of Health) Also in Spanish

Statistics and Research

• Meditation or Exercise May Help Acute Respiratory Infections (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health)
• Study Finds Association between Biological Marker and Susceptibility to the Common Cold (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Common Cold (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Soshiho-tang for treating common cold in children younger than 12...
• Article: Effect of Tea Catechins on Influenza Infection and the Common...
• Article: Potential common factors associated with predisposition to common cold in...
• Common Cold -- see more articles

Reference Desk

• Understanding Colds: Anatomy of the Nose (Commoncold, Inc.)

Find an Expert

• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Children

• Chilling Out With Colds (Nemours Foundation)
• Common Cold in Babies: Symptoms and Causes (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Is It a Cold or the Flu (For Parents)? (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Questions and Answers: Runny Nose (with Green or Yellow Mucus) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• When to Give Kids Medicine for Coughs and Colds (Food and Drug Administration) Also in Spanish

Teenagers

• Coping with Colds (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Common cold (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Common cold - how to treat at home (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Stuffy or runny nose - adult (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Stuffy or runny nose - children (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish