Talk:Common cold/Archive 5

Cold weather

Cold weather is at least indirectly related to the common cold. So not really a misconception. More complicated than that. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 18:43, 18 April 2019 (UTC)

The sources call it a misconception. I think it's reasonable to say that there is a misconception in that it's the direct cause, or has more of an effect than it does. Benjamin (talk) 21:04, 18 April 2019 (UTC)

What do you think? Does a misconception necessarily have to be a black and white issue? I don't think so. The sources don't think so. Benjamin (talk) 01:42, 23 April 2019 (UTC)

NHS says "The common cold is much more frequent in winter months, a trend that is seen in all countries of the Northern Hemisphere. Rhinovirus, the most common cause, shows peaks of activity in late autumn and early spring"

Thus it is clear that colds occur more commonly in cold weather... There is limited evidence that the traditional belief that chilling increases the likelihood of the cold may have some basis in reality."

So it may not be a misconception. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 04:59, 26 April 2019 (UTC)

As I said, does it have to be such a black and white issue? If the common misconception is just slightly true, but mostly wrong, does that mean it's not a misconception at all? Benjamin (talk) 05:07, 26 April 2019 (UTC)

This sources are poor

• Primary source from 2011 [1]
• Primary source from 1983 [2]
• Same source as above... [3]
• User contributed site [4]
• Blog [5]
• Blog [6]

Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 04:52, 26 April 2019 (UTC)

Could you elaborate? The claim about the prevalence of the misconception isn't a medical claim like the underlying medical facts, so doesn't require MEDRS. What sort of source would you expect? Generally, scholarly work focuses on the underlying facts themselves, rather than the relative prominence of misconceptions. Benjamin (talk) 04:56, 26 April 2019 (UTC)

But it may not be a misconception. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 05:00, 26 April 2019 (UTC)

Some people think chilling (e.g. cold showers) decreases the chance of getting a cold. Both views aren't supported by good evidence. I think "misconception" is a tad strong. Alexbrn (talk) 05:07, 26 April 2019 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 8 October 2019

I would like to add the line:

Sleep can help rid the common cold quicker because it allows the immune system to rejuvenate and battle viruses and infections.

After the sentence:

Insufficient sleep and malnutrition have been associated with a greater risk of developing infection following rhinovirus exposure; this is believed to be due to their effects on immune function.

The reference citation is:

Crockbar (talk) 04:04, 8 October 2019 (UTC)

That is not a suitable reference for medical claims. If you find a source compliant with WP:MEDRS that says this, then please bring it here. Thank you. TylerDurden8823 (talk) 04:12, 8 October 2019 (UTC)

References

Semi-protected edit request on 7 April 2020

I don't know how to format this, and since it's locked, you'll have to check

Due to ongoing COVID-19 research, change recommendation of "Ibuprofen" to "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracetamol" and/or "acetaminophen/Advil/Motrin" (EU / USA naming conventions)

Go research it yourself, but sources are mixed; doctors in Vienna are seeing Ibuprofen in most of the dead, so there's that. DO YOU WANT PEOPLE DEAD BECAUSE WIKIPEDIA WAS WRONG? 73.228.222.176 (talk) 05:31, 7 April 2020 (UTC)

 Not done: see WP:MEDRS. Also this is for the common cold, which is not COVID19 Cannolis (talk) 06:28, 7 April 2020 (UTC)

Size

A British poster from World War II describing the cost of the common cold

A British poster from World War II describing the cost of the common cold

I have trouble reading the second one... Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 21:51, 10 April 2020 (UTC)

No vaccine? Not entirely true!

"There is no vaccine for the common cold".

Not entirely true. Adenoviruses are responsible for maybe only 5% of common colds, but many serious cases of common colds are caused by adenovirus. And there is a vaccine, by the Israel comopany Teva. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adenovirus_vaccine

The vaccine has been proven extremely efficient for what it was designed for.

Correct me if I am mistaken.

I'm sure Teva would by happy sell the vaccine to almost any government willing to buy it.

--91.159.185.71 (talk) 18:19, 9 October 2020 (UTC)

Eccles ref

I see a ref with Eccles and a page number, I do not know this ref. It is quasi impossible for someone reading this article to know which book are we talking about. I am deleting the claim associated. Huhiop (talk) 17:54, 17 November 2020 (UTC)

Hi! I noticed this as well a few months ago. This ref is in the works-cited list. At the time I was not aware of this reference formatting for textbooks.

Works cited

Eccles, Ronald; Weber, Olaf, eds. (2009). Common Cold (Illustrated ed.). Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-3-7643-9912-2.2

I see you removed "The common cold is frequently defined as nasal inflammation with varying amount of throat inflammation." This reference (textbook) is outdated, regardless. Should we look for a more recent reference or not add back in this sentence?

JenOttawa (talk) 19:39, 17 November 2020 (UTC)

References

I guess not adding back to be compliant with MEDRS (see my talk page) Huhiop (talk) 18:41, 22 November 2020 (UTC)

Terminology

As I read this and the Coryza/Rhinitis entry, I surmise the forner is a symptom of the common cold, but not strictly speaking a synonym for the term as it is often used. Is this correct? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:346:1180:4320:11E:583E:AE17:F5BB (talk) 17:40, 31 January 2021 (UTC)

"viral disease" vs "group of viral diseases"

Since the common cold doesn't refer to a single virus family (compared to e.g. Flu), would it be sensible to edit the lead sentence:

• Currently: "The common cold ... is a viral infectious disease"
• Proposed alt1: "The common cold ... is a group of viral infectious diseases"
• Proposed alt2: "The common cold ... is an infectious disease, caused by a number of viruses"

I realise it's clarified in lead paragraph 2 that it's not just rhinoviruses, but it could be worth synchronising the lead sentence to that phrasing (e.g. it's linked from Coronavirus#Common_cold. T.Shafee(Evo&Evo)^talk 05:57, 9 March 2021 (UTC)

• It's not a group of diseases. Acute respiratory viral infections can be represented in different forms including the common cold and acute bronchitis. Both are different diseases with different infection localization. The same pathogen can cause the common cold and acute bronchitis thereafter. -- D6194c-1cc (talk) 20:08, 20 April 2021 (UTC)

Colds more common in winter months

In the last paragraph before the contents widget there is a sentence with a citation no longer valid (wording not found at link); besides, cold weather does not directly increase the chance of spreading the cold, therefore it is not "due to" the colder weather:

"Infections occur more commonly during the winter, spring and autumn due to the colder weather.[3]"

Rather the reason is the increased humidity and precipitation during winter months which means more water molecules in the air for viruses to get into and be inhaled by an organism. Could somebody please reword this sentence on the page because I'm not sure if I can remove a citation. I also don't have a citation for the water molecule thing but I doubt it needs one, kinda makes sense doesn't it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A00:23C8:9C13:1700:C502:4DC3:B4EB:260F (talk) 13:20, 17 November 2021 (UTC)

Nice noticing this error. I can help make the improvement, however, I would need a citation for the mechanism of why infections are more common in the winter months. JenOttawa (talk) 16:28, 22 November 2021 (UTC)

Many factors can contribute to the spread of the infection, its susceptibility and symptoms severity. Among them are crowding at cold seasons, air humidity, increased upper respiratory tract reactivity due to cold and dry air inhalation stability of viruses. Even cold air by itself can transform a subclinical infection into a clinical. -- D6194c-1cc (talk) 11:19, 19 December 2021 (UTC)

Sorry, I didn't notice this discussion when I spotted the error myself a few days ago and fixed it. The error was introduced in October by an unreliable editor with a very poor record of edits needing to be reverted, so the simplest fix at the time was just to revert that change and not attempt to include all those complexities in the introduction at all. Joe D (t) 11:56, 19 December 2021 (UTC)

I think one more factor may be contributing to the misconception that you catch a cold by being exposed to cold. I know ... wikipedia is not a forum, but I wonder if sources backing this up might be found. Sometimes, when we're exposed to cold, while able to register the low temperature through our skin, we may feel comfortable with it; at other times, we are much more sensitive, freezing though temperatures are not so low. This may (I believe) be the first noticeable symptom of the common cold, and thus may easily be mistaken for the cause.--Nø (talk) 11:03, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

Common cold as clinical syndrome

Currently, the common cold is defined as ″viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory tract″. But in fact about 30% of common cold cases have no identified pathogen and in about 5% of cases bacterial agent is found through its casual role is not established ([7]). Moreover, the disease can be caused by about 200 different viruses. Symptoms are similar and the disease can be even self-diagnosed without any tests. So it can be defined as a clinical syndrome. Some medical articles define common cold as a syndrome: [8]. Here's some information about syndrome vs disease meaning: [9]. As I think defining the disease as clinical syndrome would be more accurate since many cases have no identified pathogen and the disease is caused by many different viruses. What do you think? -- D6194c-1cc (talk) 17:01, 20 April 2021 (UTC)

Comments:

Russian Wikipedia calls it syndrome and says that it can be caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi. Can protista cause cold? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nemohuman (talk • contribs) 14:59, 18 March 2022 (UTC)

I would like to add a new updated reference

its this one

References

It is already used as current ref #79 under Symptomatic. The Cochrane review is generally stating lack of efficacy for the combined agents, but the article sentence picks out one positive effect: "Combined oral analgesics, antihistaminics and decongestants are generally effective for older children and adults". Are you suggesting a revision? Zefr (talk) 17:01, 7 June 2022 (UTC)