Rhinovirus

rhinovirus

Any of a group of picornaviruses capable of causing common colds in humans. The virus is thought to be transmitted to the upper respiratory tract by airborne droplets. Because of the great number of cold viruses, vaccines against them are virtually impossible to develop. See also adenovirus.

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rhinovirus [¦rīn·ə′vī·rəs]

(virology)

A subgroup of the picornavirus group including small, ribonucleic acid-containing forms which are not inactivated by ether.

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Rhinovirus

A genus of the family Picornaviridae. Members of the human rhinovirus group include at least 113 antigenically distinct types. Like the enteroviruses, the rhinoviruses are small (17–30 nanometers), contain ribonucleic acid (RNA), and are not inactivated by ether. Unlike the enteroviruses, they are isolated from the nose and throat rather than from the enteric tract, and are unstable if kept under acid conditions (pH 3–5) for 1–3 h. Rhinoviruses have been recovered chiefly from adults with colds and only rarely from patients with more severe respiratory diseases. See Common cold

In a single community, different rhinovirus types predominate during different seasons and during different outbreaks in a single season, but more than one type may be present at the same time.

Although efforts have been made to develop vaccines, none is available. Problems that hinder development of a useful rhinovirus vaccine include the short duration of natural immunity even to the specific infecting type, the large number of different antigenic types of rhinovirus, and the variation of types present in a community from one year to the next. See Animal virus, Picornaviridae, Virus classification

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Rhinovirus 

one of a group of small RNA viruses of the picornavirus family. Rhinoviruses reproduce in the cells of the nasopharyngeal mucosa, causing an inflammatory disease of the upper respiratory tract. There are many different rhinoviral serotypes, which makes it difficult to control outbreaks of acute respiratory diseases.