Is a cold contagious?

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted with Doctor Tran Quoc Tuan - Head of Resuscitation Unit - ICU - Emergency Resuscitation Department - Vinmec Phu Quoc International General Hospital.
Almost all of us have had a cold at least once. Colds are a common illness that can affect everyone from children, the elderly, and even adults. But not everyone has understood correctly about this disease.

1. Correct understanding of colds

The common cold is the main reason children miss school and adults miss work. It is estimated that each year in the United States there are millions of cases of the common cold. The average adult gets two to three colds a year, and children more than that.
Most people get colds in winter and spring, but it is also possible to catch a cold at any time of the year. You can still catch a cold in the summer when you let the air conditioner get too cold. Symptoms of the common cold include sore throat, runny nose, sneezing, cough, headache, body aches. Most people recover on their own within about 7-10 days. However, for people with weakened immune systems, the condition can be more severe.
The common cold is an upper respiratory infection caused by many different viruses. Cold weather is not the cause of the common cold, but it is just an opportunistic factor that makes it easy for the virus to enter and make us sick.
There are different respiratory viruses that can cause the common cold, but the Rhino virus is the most common. Rhinovirus can also trigger asthma attacks, and it has been linked to sinus and ear infections. Several other viruses can cause colds such as human coronavirus, adenovirus, respiratory syncytial virus,...
Cold and flu are two different illnesses. Influenza is caused by the influenza virus. Since these two diseases have similar symptoms, it is difficult to tell the difference between them based on clinical symptoms alone.
However, the symptoms of the flu are often worse than the common cold. The flu can cause very serious complications, while the common cold is a mild condition that can even go away on its own without any treatment. We now have a flu vaccine, but no cold vaccine, because it's not really necessary.

2. Is a cold contagious?

As mentioned above, the common cold is caused by many viruses, so a cold can be transmitted from person to person.
Viruses that cause colds can spread from an infected person to another through the air and close personal contact. You can become infected through contact with the respiratory secretions of an infected person. This can happen because:
You breathe the virus in the air after the patient coughs, sneezes, or talks. It is also possible that the virus has attached to the surface of objects (doorknobs, books, pens, mobile phones, computer keyboards, TV remotes, cups, bowls, chopsticks...), you accidentally touch put your hand in it, then put your hand to your nose or mouth, it means you have the virus. The common cold can be contagious from one to two days before the first symptoms appear until the symptoms are completely gone. However, the common cold is most contagious during the first two to three days of illness.
Therefore, when a family member has a common cold, other members can completely catch the disease, so everyone needs to take measures to prevent colds.

3. How to protect yourself

You can help reduce your risk of catching a cold by doing the following:
Wash your hands often with soap and water: washing your hands like this for 20 seconds will help prevent illness, you also need to help children in family does this. If soap and water are not available, you can use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. The virus that causes colds can live on your hands, and washing your hands regularly will help protect you from getting sick. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth, especially if your hands have not been washed. Because cold viruses can be on your hands when they are not cleaned. Avoid close contact with sick people.

4. How to protect others

If you already have a cold, you need to do the following to help prevent it from spreading to others, especially your family members. Specifically:
You should stay home when you are sick. If young children are sick, they should stay at home, do not send them to school, because they may spread the virus to their classmates. Avoid close contact with others such as hugging, kissing, or shaking hands. Get away from people before you cough or sneeze. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough and sneeze, then throw the tissue in the trash. Or you cover your nose and mouth into the slit of your elbow when you cough or sneeze. Wash your hands after coughing, sneezing or blowing your nose. Disinfect frequently touched surfaces and objects such as doorknobs, phones, TV remotes, computer keyboards, etc.

5. How to feel better?

There is no cure for a cold. To feel better, you should rest and drink plenty of water. Over-the-counter medications can relieve symptoms, but won't make your cold go away any faster. You need to read the instructions carefully before using, or it is best to talk to your doctor about any medicine you plan to use that is not prescribed by a doctor.
Antibiotics cannot help you treat a cold, because the cause of the disease is a virus, and antibiotics can only kill bacteria. If you use the wrong antibiotics, it can make you feel more tired.

6. When to see a doctor?

You should see a doctor if you have one or more of the following:
Symptoms persist for more than 10 days. Severe or unusual symptoms appear. If the sick person is your baby, and your baby is younger than 3 months old with fever or lethargy. People at high risk for serious flu complications should see their doctor to determine if it's just the common cold or the flu again. The risk subjects here are:
Children under 5 years of age Adults 65 years of age and older Pregnant women People with certain medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease So a cold is a viral disease caused, not due to cold weather as many people think. This is a contagious disease, so it can be spread through close contact with an infected person. It is necessary to take preventive measures when detecting someone with a cold. However, this is not a dangerous disease, so you do not need to be too worried, the disease can go away on its own after 7-10 days without any treatment.
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