Despite the desires of patients, parents, and physicians, there is no cure-all for the common cold or its symptoms. I'm Steve Klacik, instructor of pediatrics at the Eastern Virginia Medical School and The Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters. Preschool children generally have three to nine colds per year, or approximately one every six weeks. Each year Americans lose more than 26 million school days and 23 million work days because of colds and their symptoms.
Viruses cause the common cold.
These viruses are spread very easily, especially during the colder months when people move indoors and spend more time in close contact with one another. The virus is spread in the air by coughing and sneezing, but is even more efficiently spread from an infected person's hand to another hand during brief contact and from that person's hand to his or her nose or eye. This shows why hand washing can help in decreasing colds. In addition, occasional sneezing, mild aches, chills, and a scratchy throat may occur. Initially, the nasal drainage is clear and watery, but it becomes thickened and colored over the first few days of illness.