| Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary 1,519,921,073 visitors served. |
Dictionary/ thesaurus | Medical dictionary | Legal dictionary | Financial dictionary | Acronyms | Idioms | Encyclopedia | Wikipedia encyclopedia | ? |
common cold |
Also found in: Medical, Acronyms, Wikipedia | 0.06 sec. |
|
common cold a mild viral infection of the upper respiratory tract, characterized by sneezing, coughing, watery eyes, nasal congestion, etc. Common cold An acute infectious disorder characterized by nasal obstruction and discharge that may be accompanied by sneezing, sore throat, headache, malaise, cough, and fever. The disorder involves all human populations, age groups, and geographic regions; it is more common in winter than in summer in temperate climates. Most people in the United States experience at least one disabling cold (causing loss of time from work or school or a physician visit) per year. Frequencies are highest in children and are reduced with increasing age. Most, or possibly all, infectious colds are caused by viruses. More than 200 different viruses can induce the illness, but rhinoviruses, in the picornavirus family, are predominant. Rhinoviruses are small ribonucleic acid-containing viruses with properties similar to polioviruses. Other viruses commonly causing colds include corona, parainfluenza, influenza, respiratory syncytial, entero, and adeno. See Adenoviridae, Rhinovirus Cold viruses are spread from one person to another in either of two ways: by inhalation of infectious aerosols produced by the sneezing or coughing of ill individuals, or by inoculation with virus-containing secretions through direct contact with a person or a contaminated surface. Controlled experiments have not shown that chilling produces or increases susceptibility to colds. Infection in the nasopharynx induces symptoms, with the severity of the illness relating directly to the extent of the infection. Recovery after a few days of symptoms is likely, but some individuals may develop a complicating secondary bacterial infection of the sinuses, ear, or lung (pneumonia). Colds are treated with medications designed to suppress major symptoms until natural defense mechanisms terminate the infection. Immunity to reinfection follows recovery and is most effective in relation to antibody in respiratory secretions. There is no established method for prevention of colds; however, personal hygiene is recommended to reduce contamination of environmental air and surfaces with virus that may be in respiratory secretions. See Pneumonia |
|
| ? Mentioned in | ? References in periodicals archive | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Malaria deaths may
thus have been overestimated, particularly in Burundi, where fever was
the sole criterion of probable malaria; use of this 1 criterion may have
masked other causes, such as acute respiratory infection. Infant mortality rates in the expanding slums of
third-world cities are twice as high as the corresponding national rural
average; mortality rates in slurban zones are up to twenty times higher
than in areas with basic sanitation; urban slum children under five die
more often from diarrhea and acute respiratory infection than rural
children, they are also more under-nourished and up to ten times more
stunted than children from wealthier urban households. Indoor air pollution from biomass
combustion as a risk factor for acute respiratory infections in Kenya:
an exposure-response study. |
| Encyclopedia |
| Free Tools: |
For surfers:
Browser extension |
Word of the Day |
Help
For webmasters: Free content | Linking | Lookup box | Double-click lookup | Partner with us |
|---|