DATOS NO COMUNES

It is estimated that adults will suffer two to three colds per year,¹ while children, whose immune systems are still learning to fight cold viruses, can suffer two to nine colds annually.^2,3,4 You might wonder why a cure for such a common sickness hasn’t been found yet. Here’s why:

Una "cura" del pasado para los síntomas del resfrío
Since ancient times, people have been trying to relieve cold symptoms. Here are some methods that ancient civilizations considered "treatment":

• In 400 BC, Hippocrates noted that bleeding was a frequently used, though worthless, treatment for colds.⁵
• En el primer siglo d.C., el filósofo romano Plinio recomendaba que quienes estaban resfriados debían besar el hocico peludo de un ratón".⁵

Discovering the Cause of Colds
For centuries, the cause of colds and why and how they spread was not known. The first observations noted that sea voyagers and isolated populations did not get colds until resuming contact with the general population or the “outside” world. This realization led to a better understanding of the incidence and distribution of colds⁵ and suggested that colds were contagious.

However, it was not until the early 20th century that scientists actually began researching the cold, and how it spreads, and were able to confirm those observations.¹ Experiments led by Walter Kruse and his staff at Leipzig University institute led him to believe that viruses, not bacteria, are involved in spreading colds, though he could not definitively prove this.^1,6 Subsequent research built on his idea, until in 1956, the pathogen responsible for the majority of colds, rhinovirus, was isolated at the Common Cold Research Unit in England, an institute dedicated to the study of infectious disease.⁶

Desarrollar un medicamento para los síntomas del resfrío
Scientists gradually unlocked the secrets of bacteria and viruses, began understanding the role of the immune system, experimented with vaccines, and developed medicines to relieve cold symptoms.

1920	1930	1930 a 1940	1950	1960	2000
Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, which was the starting point for the development of other antibiotics that still are used against secondary bacterial infections associated with colds.1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9	English scientists isolated the first influenza virus, but it would take another 20 years to identify rhinovirus as responsible for the common cold. 6,8	Se preparó la primera vacuna contra la gripe en un laboratorio.8	The first recognized rhinovirus was isolated.5,6	Se administraron vacunas contra la gripe en todo el mundo.8	Científicos de la Universidad de Maryland establecieron la secuencia genética completa de la familia de los rhinovirus.9

Why No Cure for the Common Cold?
Con tantos datos disponibles, ¿por qué todavía no hay una cura? La respuesta se puede encontrar en el hecho de que existen numerosas cepas de virus capaces de causar los síntomas del resfrío. The rhinovirus alone, which researchers estimate is responsible for about 40-50% of common colds, has approximately 100 different strains.¹ In fact, with this many types of cold viruses, an individual could “…be infected with a different rhinovirus each year and still not experience all of the known types in a lifetime.”⁵

Other symptom-producing respiratory viruses include the coronaviruses (responsible for 10-15%), respiratory syncytial viruses (5%), adenoviruses, parainfluenza viruses, and enteroviruses.¹ Unlike treatments for diseases, such as smallpox or polio, there is no universal treatment in a single vaccine that can target all of the viruses.

Si bien el resfrío común no suele ser fatal, su ubicuidad en todo el mundo y el sufrimiento que causan sus síntomas acentúan la necesidad de realizar estudios y la importancia de que haya tratamientos fáciles de conseguir para los síntomas del resfrío.