Common cold virus and its receptor.

Potential neurovirulence of common cold virus.

An elegant recent study by Thomas Dufresne and Matthias Gromeier suggests that a causative agent of the common cold, coxsackievirus A21 (CAV21), is potentially neurovirulent and could, under the right circumstances, cause a poliomyelitis-like illness. CAV21 and poliovirus are members of the enterovirus genus (family Picornaviridae) and show remarkable genetic similarity. However, CAV21 causes u...

Antiviral agent blocks breathing of the common cold virus.

A dynamic capsid is critical to the events that shape the viral life cycle; events such as cell attachment, cell entry, and nucleic acid release demand a highly mobile viral surface. Protein mass mapping of the common cold virus, human rhinovirus 14 (HRV14), revealed both viral structural dynamics and the inhibition of such dynamics with an antiviral agent, WIN 52084. Viral capsid digestion fra...

Vitamin C and common cold.

To the Editor.—My book, Vitamin C and the Common Cold was reviewed in THE JOURNAL by Franklin C. Bing (215:1506, 1971). I do not object to the expression by the reviewer of his opinions, However, it is essential that the several untrue and thoroughly misleading statements that he makes be corrected. I do not state that ascorbic acid is a completely harmless chemical. I describe it as natural, e...

The common cold.

Common Cold (Coryza)

The common cold is an acute, self-limiting, viral inflammation of the mucosa of the upper respiratory tract. It causes nasal discharge and congestion, sneezing, a sore throat and a cough. The common cold actually describes an array of similar conditions caused by a vast number of different viruses. It is most often caused by infection with rhinoviruses (50-80%) and coronaviruses [1] . It may al...