Colds Related Articles & Blog Posts

How do colds and flu spread? Do they spread differently?

The symptoms we get during a viral illness are often the body’s attempt to get rid of the virus and to minimize damage. Sneezing ejects the virus from the nose, cough from the lungs and throat, vomiting from the stomach, and diarrhea from the intestines. Fever makes it difficult for the virus to reproduce. The [...]

I am a physician (an anesthesiologist) and I have continued to try to (silly me) find a really good description of the difference between Flu and Cold.
This has really been nagging me, not only for my kids, but for…

Pertussis is commonly known as whooping cough. Pertussis is caused by bacteria that attach themselves to the cilia (little hairs) that line the respiratory tract. These bacteria produce a potent toxin that inflames the respiratory tract and that prevents the cilia from functioning properly.

If a child has cold symptoms that go on and on, is it really allergies? Or is it just one long cold? Or several colds, back-to-back? This is especially difficult in the spring when all the flowers and trees…

Parents often ask me whether their children’s constantly runny noses are the result of allergies, sinus infections, or of one cold after another.

If a child has cold symptoms that go on and on, is it really allergies? Or is it just one long cold? Or several colds, back-to-back? This is especially difficult in the spring when all the flowers and trees…

Our child is 14 months old. His temperature was up to 103 degrees. What are the best things to do before having to go to the doctor, and at what temperature does it become critical? What are the recommended…

RSV, or Respiratory Syncytial Virus, is the most important respiratory organism of early childhood. RSV occurs throughout the world, and in each location it tends to occur in yearly winter outbreaks. In the northern hemisphere the peak of the epidemic is usually in January, February, or March, although in some years it may begin earlier [...]

A seven-month-old boy has had a cold for three days. Last night he woke up screaming, and remained irritable for several minutes even when he was picked up. He felt hot to the touch. This morning, he seems completely fine.