Adults and older children with colds generally have minimal or no fever. Infants and toddlers often run a fever in the 100 to 102 degree range. Depending on which virus is the culprit, the virus might also produce a headache, cough, postnasal drip, burning eyes, muscle aches, or a decreased appetite, but in a cold the most prominent symptoms are in the nose. Colds are the most prevalent infectious disease. In areas where there is no winter, colds are most common in the rainy season.
Parents get about half as many colds as their children do.
Moms tend to get at least one more cold per year than dads. When someone has a cold, the nasal secretions are teeming with cold viruses. Coughing, drooling, and talking are all unlikely ways to pass a cold. You can catch a cold by inhaling the virus if you are sitting close to a sneeze, or by touching your nose, eyes, or mouth after you have touched something contaminated by infected nasal secretions. Usually irritation in the nose or a scratchy feeling in the throat are the first signs, followed within hours by sneezing and a watery nasal discharge.