Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Published Ahead of Print
    • Archive
    • Supplemental Issues
    • Collections - French
    • Collections - English
  • Info for
    • Authors & Reviewers
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Advertisers
    • Careers & Locums
    • Subscribers
    • Permissions
  • About CFP
    • About CFP
    • About the CFPC
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
  • Feedback
    • Feedback
    • Rapid Responses
    • Most Read
    • Most Cited
    • Email Alerts
  • Blogs
    • Latest Blogs
    • Blog Guidelines
    • Directives pour les blogues
  • Mainpro+ Credits
    • About Mainpro+
    • Member Login
    • Instructions
  • Other Publications
    • http://www.cfpc.ca/Canadianfamilyphysician/
    • https://www.cfpc.ca/Login/
    • Careers and Locums

User menu

  • My alerts

Search

  • Advanced search
The College of Family Physicians of Canada
  • Other Publications
    • http://www.cfpc.ca/Canadianfamilyphysician/
    • https://www.cfpc.ca/Login/
    • Careers and Locums
  • My alerts
The College of Family Physicians of Canada

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Published Ahead of Print
    • Archive
    • Supplemental Issues
    • Collections - French
    • Collections - English
  • Info for
    • Authors & Reviewers
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Advertisers
    • Careers & Locums
    • Subscribers
    • Permissions
  • About CFP
    • About CFP
    • About the CFPC
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
  • Feedback
    • Feedback
    • Rapid Responses
    • Most Read
    • Most Cited
    • Email Alerts
  • Blogs
    • Latest Blogs
    • Blog Guidelines
    • Directives pour les blogues
  • Mainpro+ Credits
    • About Mainpro+
    • Member Login
    • Instructions
  • RSS feeds
  • Follow cfp Template on Twitter
OtherFP Watch

Common cold

Graham Worrall
Canadian Family Physician October 2007, 53 (10) 1735-1736;
Graham Worrall
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: gworrall@mun.ca
  • Article
  • eLetters
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

The only way to treat the common cold is with contempt.

Sir William Osler

The common cold is the most common condition FPs have to deal with. Although most people do not visit the doctor when they have a cold, the workload generated by those who do is considerable.

  • Adults get 4 to 6 colds per year.

  • Children get 6 to 8 colds per year.

  • Colds are the cause of 40% of all time off work.

  • Colds are the cause of 30% of all time off school.

  • Colds can be caused by more than 200 types of viruses; however, the rhinovirus and coronavirus are the most common causes.

Clinical course and diagnosis

Symptoms caused by colds typically last for 1 to 2 weeks, and most patients will feel better after the first week. Tests are of no use in diagnosing the common cold.

Only a tiny proportion of common cold cases do not resolve spontaneously. Complications, which are rare, can occur in infants, the very old, and immunocompromised and chronically ill people.

Symptoms and signs of the common cold include the following:

  • rhinorrhea,

  • nasal obstruction,

  • throat irritation or laryngitis,

  • cough but normal chest examination, and

  • fever.

Treatment

Despite many media claims, there is really no evidence that any medication produces more than minimal relief of symptoms or duration of illness.

  • Cough suppressants. Antitussives relieve cough in adults. Over-the-counter cough syrups relieve symptoms in schoolchildren; however, there is no evidence that over-the-counter medication is effective in preschool children.

  • Antihistamines. There is no evidence of benefit from treatment with antihistamines.

  • Decongestants. Decongestants relieve cold symptoms.

  • Antipyretics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. These drugs can relieve fever and headache, but do not affect the cold’s clinical course.

  • Echinacea. There is no evidence of Echinacea being effective in treating colds.

  • Vitamin C. Vitamin C can reduce the duration of a cold by less than half a day.

  • Zinc. Zinc can reduce the duration of a cold slightly, but there is no consistent evidence of benefit.

  • Comfort measures. Steam inhalation relieves cold symptoms, but there is no good evidence for other comfort measures.

  • Antibiotics. There is no evidence of effectiveness in treating a cold with antibiotics.

Prevention

Results of a Canadian trial suggested that taking ginseng polysaccharides daily all winter would prevent 1 cold (and would probably cost more than $100). Although the results of this study have received much hype in the media, ginseng (marketed as COLD-fX) is probably no more effective at preventing colds than hand washing after contact with a cold sufferer. It is also worth remembering that the studies that advocate frequent hand washing and avoidance of contact with cold sufferers were done using weak methods.

Vitamin C has no preventive effect for most people; however, it can benefit athletes or heavy labourers slightly.

  • Hand washing. Hand washing is effective in preventing the spread of colds.

  • Echinacea. Echinacea has a possible small preventive effect.

  • Vitamin C. Vitamin C has no preventive effect.

  • Ginseng. Ginseng can have a small preventive effect.

  • Vaccines. There are no effective vaccines to prevent colds.

Footnotes

  • Competing interests

    None declared

  • Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada

References

    1. Arroll B,
    2. Kenealy T
    . Antibiotics for the common cold. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2002;(3):CD000247.
    1. Bean RB
    . Sir William Osler—aphorisms from his bedside teachings and writings. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas Ltd; 1968.
    1. Douglas RM,
    2. Chalker EB,
    3. Treacy B
    . Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2000;(2):CD000980.
    1. Nguyen A,
    2. Slavik V
    . COLD-fX. Can Fam Physician 2007;53:481-2.
    OpenUrlFREE Full Text
    1. Predy GN,
    2. Goel V,
    3. Lovlin R,
    4. Donner A,
    5. Stitt L,
    6. Basu TK
    . Efficacy of an extract of North American ginseng containing poly-furanosyl-pyranosyl-saccharides for preventing upper respiratory tract infections: a randomized controlled trial. CMAJ 2005;173(9):1043-8.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
    1. Schroeder K,
    2. Fahey T
    . Over-the-counter medications for acute cough in children and adults in ambulatory settings. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2001;(3):CD001831.
    1. Taverner D,
    2. Bickford L,
    3. Draper M
    . Nasal decongestants for the common cold. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2000;(2):CD001953.
    1. Worrall G
    1. Worrall G
    . The common cold. In: Worrall G, editor. There’s a lot of it about: acute respiratory infection in primary care. Abingdon, Engl: Radcliffe Publishing Ltd; 2006. p. 15-23.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Canadian Family Physician: 53 (10)
Canadian Family Physician
Vol. 53, Issue 10
1 Oct 2007
  • Table of Contents
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on The College of Family Physicians of Canada.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Common cold
(Your Name) has sent you a message from The College of Family Physicians of Canada
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the The College of Family Physicians of Canada web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Common cold
Graham Worrall
Canadian Family Physician Oct 2007, 53 (10) 1735-1736;

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Respond to this article
Share
Common cold
Graham Worrall
Canadian Family Physician Oct 2007, 53 (10) 1735-1736;
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Clinical course and diagnosis
    • Treatment
    • Prevention
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

FP Watch

  • Use of nonvitamin dietary supplements with prescription medications
  • Elliptical excision
  • Hospitalist care
Show more FP Watch

ARI Series

  • Bronchiolitis
  • Croup
  • Influenza
Show more ARI Series

Similar Articles

Navigate

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Archive
  • Collections - English
  • Collections - Française

For Authors

  • Authors and Reviewers
  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Permissions
  • Terms of Use

General Information

  • About CFP
  • About the CFPC
  • Advertisers
  • Careers & Locums
  • Editorial Advisory Board
  • Subscribers

Journal Services

  • Email Alerts
  • Twitter
  • RSS Feeds

Copyright © 2023 by The College of Family Physicians of Canada

Powered by HighWire