How to keep viruses at bay and what to do when they get you down

How come we can clone a cow, send a man to the moon and make a soda pop taste like turkey and gravy, but we can't cure the common cold? Doesn't make sense — but neither does a lot of stuff people believe about colds and the flu. Now that we're in the peak season for those maladies, maybe we can clear the air. Here's looking achoo!

The hard cold facts

Colds have been around forever. Hieroglyphs depict people with coughs and colds as far back as ancient Egypt. The Greeks had them, too; the physician Hippocrates described the ailment five centuries before Christ. And in the Americas, early Aztecs mixed up some chili pepper, honey and tobacco to treat their colds.

Why can't we cure it? For starters, there's not just one virus that causes colds, but about 200 of them. Any many of your symptoms — the basic runny nose, congested sinuses — aren't caused directly by the viruses, but by your body's attempts to fight them off. So by the time you know you have a cold, the viral attack may be over and you're dealing with friendly fire.

We sure get a lot of 'em: Americans get about 1 billion colds a year, with the average adult getting two to four. Women get more than men, possibly because they have closer contact with children, who get six to 10 colds a year.

They empty our wallets. We can't cure colds, but we pay dearly to relieve their symptoms. In 2003, a University of Michigan researcher calculated that Americans spend $2.9 billion annually on over-the-counter cold medications and another $400 million on prescription ones.

Colds all around us

No campout for Emerson. When Ralph Waldo Emerson traveled to California's Yosemite Valley in 1871, his Boston-based handlers decided the 68-year-old writer shouldn't camp outside, saying, "It would never do to lie out in the night air. Mr. Emerson might take cold." But naturalist John Muir countered that "only in homes and hotels were colds caught ... nobody was ever known to take cold camping in these woods not a single cough or sneeze in all the Sierra."

Nothing to sneeze at. If you don't think coughing and sneezing can be funny, maybe you haven't seen the video "Why Don't We Do It In Our Sleeves?" by OtoRhinoLounsburgology Productions. Check it out: www.coughsafe.com/media.html.

Colds bring up words we don't even like saying: Mucus, sputum, nasal discharge.

What's a sufferer to do?

The basics: Get plenty of rest. Drink extra fluids — of the nonalcoholic variety, please. Use a humidifier to put extra moisture in the air.

What to take? Store shelves offer countless choices, but the Food and Drug Administration recommends five main types of medication, depending on your symptoms: Nasal decongestants to unclog a stuffy nose; cough suppressants to quiet a cough; expectorants to loosen mucus so it can be coughed up; antihistamines to stop a runny nose; and pain reliever to ease aches and fever.

Kids and aspirin: Experts caution against giving aspirin to children because it increases the risk of Reye's syndrome, which can damage the liver and brain and is potentially fatal.

Have some chicken soup? For centuries, grandmas have sworn by it. Hard evidence may not be plentiful, but some university studies have shown it can reduce tissue inflammation and make breathing easier.

What about echinacea? Zinc? Garlic? Airborne? Tough to say. Studies have shown conflicting results with some of these popular preventives or treatments; none has universal acceptance. But there's always the possibility of a placebo effect: If you believe something is going to make you feel better, it just might.

More you should know

Cold or flu? A high fever, severe aches and exhaustion may be signs of influenza, which may be treated with antiviral medicines. Call your doctor.

That's a long time. Remember that silly alphabet song? Hum it at a casual pace and it takes about 20 seconds. That's how long experts say we should wash our hands to get rid of germs. (Can't recall that ditty? Find one version of the lyrics at www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphabet_song.)

Antibacterial? Think again. Soaps with antibacterial ingredients have become popular, but many experts say that because colds are viruses, they don't offer more protection than regular soaps. And some fear the wide use of antibacterial products may help develop tougher strains of bacteria.

Bad for baby. Pregnant women should consult their doctors before taking over-the-counter cold medications and avoid those containing alcohol. And it's particularly important for pregnant women to get a flu shot.

Be smart; be courteous

If you're sick, stay home. Be a considerate coworker or classmate and keep your germs at home, advises Dr. Tao Sheng Kwan-Gett a medical epidemiologist with Public Health — Seattle & King County. "This is an area where we need to change the culture," he adds. "Doctors are among the worst culprits."

Protect yourself from the office hackers. We can't predict how your sick colleagues will react, but Dr. Kwan-Gett suggests asking them to wear masks to catch their coughs and sneezes. Stay at least three feet away from them and don't touch anything they use. Viruses can live for hours on phones, computer keyboards, door knobs and other surfaces. Keep an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with you and wash your hands occasionally through the day.

Stop germs, stay healthy. Check out www.metrokc.gov/health/stopgerms for more information on colds and flu, including TV and radio spots on "respiratory etiquette," hand-washing instruction posters in six languages, an interactive "Cover that cough" game and weekly updates on the incidence of flu in King County.

Sources: Public Health — Seattle & King County, National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mayo Clinic, Food and Drug Administration, Sierra Club, Time Magazine, Wikipedia.

Jack Broom: 206-464-2222 or jbroom@seattletimes.com