Must You Be Such a Drip?

You don't have to look at a calendar to know that it's cold season. Just listen to the hacking coughs, sneezes and the hoarse, husky voices that have dropped an octave in recent weeks as upper-respiratory infections take a toll in offices, schools and homes.

The common cold is the most frequent illness known to man. But for sufferers, it can feel uncommonly bad to have blocked nasal passages, watery eyes and head-snapping sneezes.

And in an era of heart transplants, in vitro fertilization and human genome mapping, there's still no treatment for this malady, which accounts for approximately 500 million infections annually in the United States.

And the costs? An estimated $40 billion each year, according to a 2003 economic analysis by the University of Michigan for both direct and indirect costs for medical treatment and lost work time. As the researchers noted, that's a higher economic burden than some more-serious conditions impose.

Colds are the annoying ailment that won't kill you but may make you want to cut off your nose to breathe again. They often make adults feel like sniffly children, yearning for their mother's comfort.

No wonder we shell out an estimated $250 million annually for "remedies" that don't actually kill the viruses that cause colds and often don't relieve symptoms any better than a placebo.

This eagerness to be rid of cold symptoms can sometimes exact a human toll: Earlier this month, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention linked infant deaths to overuse of cold remedies and advised parents and caregivers not to give children 2 and younger cold medicines without a doctor's approval.

Colds remain wrapped in lore that seems to leave people as foggy as if they had taken a swig of antihistamines. "Feed a cold, starve a fever" is the age-old advice (with no basis in science). For more on remedies, see Page F4.

Many still mistakenly think that antibiotics, which kill bacteria but not viruses, can cure colds. And they are often annoyed when their doctors won't prescribe them.

Cold sufferers complain that their flu shots didn't protect them against the common cold. (The shots are not intended for that purpose. Influenza is caused by different viruses.)

Nor can most people tell the difference between the flu and a cold. Both cause respiratory symptoms, but influenza is a far more severe infection that comes with a fever, headache and muscle aches as well as a gut-wrenching cough. And unlike the common cold, influenza can be treated with antiviral medicines, provided they are started shortly after symptoms appear.

"Has a woman who knew she was well-dressed ever caught a cold?" asked the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who, like many today, was a bit confused about how colds are spread. (You can learn more about cold myths below in "Sick as a Dog?")