Common Cold

Common cold (viral disease)

The common cold, catarrh or romadizo is a mild viral infectious disease

Disease of the upper respiratory tract that affects people of all ages, highly contagious, caused mainly (comúnmente) by rhinovirus and coronavirus

The common cold usually causes runny nose, nasal congestion and sneezing, sore throat, cough, sore head, watery eyes, itching, cough, tiredness and a feeling of malaise.

It is one of the most common diseases that usually lasts between 3 and 10 days. Although the common cold has no cure, symptoms usually resolve spontaneously within 7 to 10 days, with few symptoms and may stay up to three weeks.

Target organs:

The cold is different from the flu, a more serious viral infection of the respiratory tract that shows additional symptoms: fever rising , tremors and muscle pain, even though many people confuse both terms.

You can get a cold if:

A person with a cold sneezes, coughs or sounds near you nose.

You touch your nose, eyes or mouth after you have touched something contaminated by the virus, such as a toy or a door knob.

People are most contagious during the first 2 to 3 days of cold. The cold is usually not contagious after the first week

Spend time in a place closed with infected individuals or in close contact with an infected person increases the risk of contracting a cold. The common cold is an infection transmitted by droplets, which means that it is transmitted mainly through inhalation of small particles that the infected person emits when you cough, sneeze, or exhale.

Although common colds are seasonal, with more cases in winter, research has could not find evidence of a short exposure to cold to increase susceptibility to infection, 16 which means that seasonal variation is given by a change in behavior, such as for example spend more time indoors in close contact with others

Regarding the cause of the symptoms, investigations in the center of the cold joint of Cardiff University led to a study to "test the hypothesis that acute cooling of the feet causes the onset of common cold symptoms".17 the study showed that the subjects had more symptoms of cold within 5 daysprobably because the constriction of blood vessels in the nasal orifices can lead to reduce immune capacity in the upper respiratory tract.

the mucus is a protective barrier to prevent the passage of bacteria or viruses to the respiratory tract

Symptoms

The symptoms of a cold usually occur approximately 2 or 3 days after you came into contact with the virus, though it could take up to a week. Symptoms mainly affect the nose.

The most frequent are:

Nasal congestion

Runny nose

Scratchy throat

Sneezing

Adults and children with colds usually have a low-grade fever or do not have fever, whereas young children often have fever of about 38 to 39 ° c (100 to 102° F).

What are its stages?

stages

The first is the contagion, there are more than 200 cold viruses that can cause an infection. These viruses are spread through contact, inhalation of infected air or through the use of common objects. Therefore, it is very important to keep washing hands frequently during an infection and blow your nose with a handkerchief or tissue. A flu virus can survive outside the body for 2 hours on objects that are passed on.

Once the virus enters the nose,

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