Skip to content
Support Us

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Why don't we have a cure for the common cold?

It’s a good question with a long answer.

PastedImage-21775 Flickr Flickr

Why don’t we have a cure for the common cold?

MODERN SCIENCE HAS eradicated smallpox, extended life expectancy, and made huge gains in battling some of the world’s deadliest diseases. So why can’t we knock out the humble cold?

The short answer is twofold. First, what we think of as a cold is actually caused by many different viruses. Even the most common among those, rhinovirus, has over a hundred different strains. “Curing” a cold would actually mean eradicating a long list of respiratory viruses that happen to cause similar symptoms. Those symptoms, incidentally, are mostly just your immune system kicking into high gear to fight off an infection, something that can manifest as inflammation in the throat and congestion in the nose.

Second, while sniffling and coughing is no fun, a cold is pretty low down on the list of ailments that need curing. It can be a concern for infants, the elderly, or those with pre-existing respiratory conditions, but “for the majority of us, a common cold is more annoyance than threat,” says Ian Mackay, a virologist at the University of Queensland.

Still, in 2002, researchers calculated that the annual cost of lost productivity due to colds is $25 billion. The National Institutes of Health estimates that people in the United States experience about 1 billion colds every year. What if we could make those all go away? We talked to a number of experts to get the full story on why we haven’t cured the common cold and whether we ever will.

Why isn’t there a cold vaccine?

Every year, there are multiple strains of the flu circulating. If we can vaccinate against the most common strains of the flu, it seems like we should be able to do the same thing for colds. But it doesn’t quite work that way.

There are only about three strains of flu each season, while “there are usually 20-30 different types of rhinovirus circulating each season in one geographic area,” explains Yury A. Bochkov, an associate scientist in the department of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Only about 10% of those will show up again the next year. That means, Bochkov says, that public health officials “cannot predict the spectrum of rhinovirus types for an upcoming cold season.”

Plus, even if you could, as Thomas Smith of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston says, “somehow stuff 100 different strains into one shot,” that would only take care of the most common cold-causing virus.

Over 200 viruses can cause what a sick person would recognize only as a cold, including “some strains of influenza virus, adenoviruses, coronaviruses, enteroviruses, [and] respiratory syncytial virus,” Bochkov explains. A rhinovirus vaccine would do nothing to protect against those.

PastedImage-37359 Structure of the human rhinovirus capsid, the shell surrounding the virus' genetic material.

Why isn’t there a cold cure, or even a highly effective treatment?

The main reason, says Mackay, is that the common cold is usually “a short-lived and relatively mild illness.”

But trying to develop drugs to treat rhinovirus also has some particular challenges. Smith, who worked on such research in his lab at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, tells us that some of the approaches they were testing “really did work,” at least in the lab. Still, “while these compounds were pretty good at hitting a number of different strains at once, there were still a few outlier strains.”

That’s the tricky thing about rhinoviruses, says Bochkov: “It is difficult to find an antiviral equally efficient against 160 rhinoviruses.”

Furthermore, colds are not usually life-threatening, so the Food and Drug Administration would have a very low threshold for the kind of side effects that would be considered worth it. “It really had to be nearly as safe as water for approval for the general public,” says Smith. Few drugs are.

The challenges did not stop there. “Only humans show symptoms of [rhinovirus] infection,” explains Smith, making it nearly impossible to do any testing between petri dishes and human trials. Even then, researchers would first have to find a rhinovirus that test subjects had not already been exposed to — a difficult task with so many strains circulating every year.

If anyone is able to find an effective treatment, however, those efforts might pay off. “There would be a huge market among wealthy nations who have overcome some of the more serious infectious diseases and now have moved their attention to removing the annoyance of the common cold,” predicts Mackay.

 

Is there any progress being made?

A number of researchers are working on something called broad-spectrum antivirals, which would target a wide variety of viruses. While much of this research is still in very early phases, it may offer the best hope for an eventual cold cure.

Todd Rider, formerly a senior staff scientist at MIT Lincoln Laboratory and now at Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, developed one such compound, called DRACO. It generated a lot of media buzz when it was first announced in 2011.

DRACO, Rider tells us, “is designed to treat or prevent infections by a broad spectrum of viruses, just as existing antibiotics can treat or prevent infections by a broad spectrum of bacteria.”

The compound has so far been effective against 15 different viruses in cells and in mice. It works by entering all cells and then destroying those where it detects a viral infection. “For the common cold in particular, DRACO was shown in human cells to be effective against all four rhinovirus strains tested,” Rider explains, “and to completely eliminate rhinoviruses without harming uninfected cells.”

While DRACO and other related research, like that led by Leo James at Cambridge University’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology, seem very promising, much more testing is needed to see whether this approach will be effective and safe in humans. If DRACO lives up to its initial promise and continued testing goes well — neither of which is a certainty — Rider expects that it could be used in humans “within a decade or perhaps sooner.”

What can you do in the meantime?

Wash your hands. Get plenty of sleep. Avoid sick people whenever possible. Try your luck with over-the-counter remedies.

Or, Smith notes, there’s always the extreme option: “Hermits who never see fellow human beings never get the common cold.”

Read: ‘You could have lung disease, but won’t notice if your only exercise is shopping’

Read: European doctors urge governments to “mobilise” in fight against Ebola

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Published with permission from
View 33 comments
Close
33 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Pauliebhoy
    Favourite Pauliebhoy
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 9:33 AM

    Surely manflu is higher up on their list of priorities

    210
    Sam
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Sam
    Favourite Sam
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 10:03 AM

    Are you a survivor?

    94
    Glen
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Glen
    Favourite Glen
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 10:09 AM

    The cause of manful is annoying wife/partner ….

    39
    See 9 more replies ▾
    Sam
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Sam
    Favourite Sam
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 10:39 AM

    There’s an easy cure then. Remain single and a hermit.

    74
    Glen
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Glen
    Favourite Glen
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 12:13 PM

    Well you have two options as I see it
    1. Nod and say yes dear
    2. Stay single and pull on a Saturday night
    Lesson to young men … Just agree with her you’ll live longer !

    19
    Sam
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Sam
    Favourite Sam
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 2:17 PM

    If you go with option 2, it won’t just be a cold you’ll catch

    21
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute NoNeed4cryptoGreed
    Favourite NoNeed4cryptoGreed
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 4:09 PM

    Manflu. The Truth. http://youtu.be/6keUdzwFCHU

    2
    Sam
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Sam
    Favourite Sam
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 9:46 PM

    Haha thank you. That was brilliant. The seriousness of it

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute NoNeed4cryptoGreed
    Favourite NoNeed4cryptoGreed
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 9:49 PM

    Suits my droll sense of humour, glad you liked it.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Peter Pan
    Favourite Peter Pan
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 10:19 PM

    Women are way more hypochondriac than men, I haven’t taken a sick day in 6 years.

    1
    Sam
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Sam
    Favourite Sam
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 10:24 PM

    Sure why would ya? You’re Peter Pan ffs

    10
    Sam
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Sam
    Favourite Sam
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 10:25 PM

    Anything that can rip the piss out of most serious issues is a laugh and obviously manflu is a very serious issue.

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Swanky Joe
    Favourite Swanky Joe
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 9:52 AM

    Too much money being made by Big Pharma on the current paracetamol based remedies which have low cost of manufacture

    50
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Cool Lights
    Favourite Cool Lights
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 10:00 AM

    Have to say, I bloody hate having a cold and wouldn’t mind seeing a cure for it.

    47
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute The Doctor
    Favourite The Doctor
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 10:44 AM

    I hate when you wake one morning and you feel grand but there is a tiny tickle in your throat and you just know it’s coming. Horrible.

    76
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Cian Warren
    Favourite Cian Warren
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 10:58 AM

    Flat 7 UP, Bunch of grapes…be grand…

    42
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Pauliebhoy
    Favourite Pauliebhoy
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 11:01 AM

    You’re nearly describing a wine spritzer

    54
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Adrienne Lyons
    Favourite Adrienne Lyons
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 9:56 AM

    Mammys cure, TK red lemonade and chicken soup

    40
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jim Brady
    Favourite Jim Brady
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 11:41 AM

    I would have thought that exposure to common viruses is essential for an infant’s developing immune system?
    Artificially preventing us from catching colds seems to me to counter-productive, and, I’m guessing, could leaves us more susceptible to severe infection.
    T cells need to work out too…

    32
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Brian Keelty
    Favourite Brian Keelty
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 9:55 AM

    As long as more money is being made from.the treatment than could be made from a cure, it will remain that way….. A bit like a cancer cure… It’s all about profit and bottom line… They ate businesses after all

    29
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Loop De Loop
    Favourite Loop De Loop
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 10:12 AM

    Nothing like the search for a cancer cure. Cancer kills thousands every year, colds don’t. Millions are spent every year in cancer research this is not the case with the common cold.

    40
    Glen
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Glen
    Favourite Glen
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 9:53 AM

    Money that’s why
    Big money Big Pharma !!

    27
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Keith daly
    Favourite Keith daly
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 10:31 AM

    Because you usually only have a cold for a few days to maybe a week. Even if there was a cure it would probably take longer than that to work .

    21
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John McDonnell
    Favourite John McDonnell
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 1:05 PM

    I always wondered how they haven’t found a cure for cold sores either …
    Bloody hate them

    20
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Begley Ian
    Favourite Begley Ian
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 11:49 AM

    Didnt Kenan and Kel find a cure for the common cold in one episode?

    18
    Sam
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Sam
    Favourite Sam
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 10:27 PM

    Was it orange soda?

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paudi Onail
    Favourite Paudi Onail
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 2:38 PM

    Wash Your Hands! I think i must wash them about 10 times a day. Some filthy things out there who never wash them after using toilets.

    13
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Donna L Tier
    Favourite Donna L Tier
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 11:26 AM

    There’s no cure because there are millions of different variations of “the common cold” and it all depends on how each human body reacts to it therefore you cannot pin point how to kill the virus as I works in many many ways.

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute FlopFlipU
    Favourite FlopFlipU
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 12:17 PM

    Drop of port in a brandy

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Travel Counsellor
    Favourite Travel Counsellor
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 3:43 PM

    I would have thought that the common cold is cured by the human immune system, otherwise once we catch it, wouldn’t it just stay with us and not go away after a few days? I understand we catch it once or twice a year and again our immune systems fight it off. No need to look for a cure, we already have it (most of us at least)

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Peter Jo
    Favourite Peter Jo
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 2:32 PM

    Can’t make money from a cure

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute David O'Connor
    Favourite David O'Connor
    Report
    Sep 28th 2014, 3:47 PM

    Sure it costs more to treat something than cure it, that’s the real answer.

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Manitaras
    Favourite John Manitaras
    Report
    Sep 30th 2014, 4:07 AM

    “for the majority of us, a common cold is more annoyance than threat”

    That’s rediculous; 2-3 colds per year by 7 billion earthlings is a lot of annoyance. The US economy alone is estimated to incur $40bn in costs of treatments and lost work days; add to that the cost of discomfort, reduced productivity during days at work, and the cost of foregoing other activities. Then multiply by all the other countries in the world; the value of a cure to the common cold might easily be in excess of $400bn per year. At a 5% discount rate we’re talking about a present value to society of around US$8trillion for a cure! The common cold represents an extremely serious cost to society, even if individual cases are no more than an annoyance

    1
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds