Cold Facts and Statistics
At some point or another everyone has had to suffer through it, the common cold. On an average, adults will have 2-5 colds per year while infants and small children, whose immune systems are not fully mature yet, will catch from four to eight colds per year.
Over 200 viruses that can cause the common cold, is an infection of the upper respiratory track, symptoms: head congestion, sore throat, coughing, headche, fever, restlessness, sneezing, watery eyes, aches, pains, most clear up without help in 7-10 days, some can cause complications - bronchitis, pneumonia, flu, healthy adult gets average of two colds/year, infants and children get more since their immune systems are immature and because they haven't been exposed to as many viruses as the adult yet
Cold Facts (US from CDC):
There are nearly 62 million cases of the common cold annually
52.2 million of these case affect Americans under age 17
There are nearly 22 million school-loss days annually due to the common cold
There are approximately 45 million bed days annually associated with the common cold
Seventy-five percent of common colds suffered by children under 5 years are medically attended
(From: Vital and Health Statistics, Series 10, No. 200)
Cold Info:
Adults 2-5 colds/yr, infants and preschool children 4-8/yr., babies and the very elderly can develop chest infections which can be fatal, people who are taking immune system depressing medications are also at risk of dying from a cold, infection usually occurs at home or in the nursery or school since young children are the main reservoir of the vuris, adults with regular contact wtih cildren are most exposed to infection, appears to be spread by large particles expelled at close rainge by coughs and sneezes and by contaminated fingers which pass the cirus to the nsoe and eye, your fingers can become contaminated by touched door handles, etc. in public places,
hand washing can help reduce spread of virus, You are most infective when you have the early symptoms of sneezing, runny nose and cough, colds occur all year round but increase during autumn and winter months,
cold caused by over 200 different viruses but Rhinoviruses (nose viruses) account for 30-40% of adult colds,
Stress may influence susceptibility to infection, stress appears to be associated with the suppression of general resistance to infection,
Antibodies produced by the cold help to prevent repeat infections by the same virus but do not protect against other viruses,
Symptoms usually start two days after infection and may last two weeks,
First signs: dry scratchy sore throat, sneezing, clear watery nasal fluid, fever associated with a cold is uncommon in adults but common in infants and children, later symptoms - stuffed/blocked nose, cough
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