1. Natural Cold & Flu Remedies Slideshow Pictures
2. Take the Common Cold Quiz!
3. Immune Boosting Foods Slideshow Pictures

Medical Author:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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Medical Editor:

John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP

John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP

John P. Cunha, DO, is a U.S. board-certified Emergency Medicine Physician. Dr. Cunha's educational background includes a BS in Biology from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and a DO from the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in Kansas City, MO. He completed residency training in Emergency Medicine at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, New Jersey.

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Most viruses that cause colds are very contagious and are transmitted from person to person.

• Of the viruses that cause a cold, the most commonly occurring subtype is a group that lives in the nasal passages known as the "rhinovirus." Other less common cold viruses include coronavirus, adenovirus, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
• Cold viruses may spread through the air and can be transmitted from airborne droplets expelled when someone with a cold coughs or sneezes.
• The primary means of spreading a cold is through hand-to-face or -mouth contact or from objects that have been touched by someone with a cold, or by touching items where droplets produced by coughs or sneezes have recently landed and then touching the face or mouth.
• The typical transmission occurs when a cold sufferer rubs his or her nose and then, shortly thereafter, touches or shakes hands with someone who, in turn, touches his or her own nose, mouth, or eyes.
• Virus transmission also often occurs via frequently shared or touched objects such as doorknobs and other hard surfaces, handrails, grocery carts, telephones, and computer keyboards.

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