How does one get common cold and how does it automatically go away without any treatment in a week or so?
In: Biology
What we refer to as the “common cold” is a viral infection of the upper respiratory tract, usually caused by either coronaviruses or rhinoviruses. These viruses can spread in a variety of ways, like when someone coughs or sneezes, they shoot microscopic mucus and/or saliva particles out into the air, and the viruses travel inside those particles. Then when someone breathes those particles in, or touch a surface where those particles have landed, the virus has now entered a new body.
Once the viruses enter your body they attach themselves to the lining of your nose, sinuses, and throat. Your body notices that there’s a foreign invader, and sends out white blood cells to fight it. Now, if you’re being infected by a specific virus that your body has fought off before, your white blood cells will recognize it and will generally have an easy time killing it. However, there are more than 200 different viruses that can cause colds, so when it’s a virus that your body has NOT seen before, the first wave of white blood cells may not be strong enough to fight it off. In this case, your body sends a huge, concentrated defense response, and that’s what’s happening when you get floods of mucus, swollen tissues, fevers, etc. Those are all methods that our bodies use to fight and kill invaders.
Fortunately the viruses that cause colds aren’t all that strong, and so your body, as long as your immune system is functioning properly, will eventually kill them using a combination of responses.
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