Common-cold Sense

You can't beatit,but you don't have to join it.Maybe it got the name"commoncold"because it's more common in winter.The fact is,though,being colddoesn't have anything to

do with gettingone.Colds are caused by the spread of rhinoviruses,and,at least so far,medicalscience is better at telling you how to avoid getting one than how to get ridof

one.

Children are themost common way cold viruses are spread to adults,because they have more coldsthan adults-an average of about eight per year.Why do kids seem so much

more easily to getcolds than their parents?Simple.They haven't had the opportunity to becomeimmune to many cold viruses.

There are more than150 different cold viruses,and you never have the same one twice.being infectedby one makes you immune to it-but only it.

Colds are usuallyspread by direct contact,not sneezing or coughing.From another person's hand toyour hand and then to your nose or eyes is the most common route.The

highestconcentration of cold viruses anywhere is found under the thumbnails of aboy,although the viruses can survive for hours on skin or other smoothsurfaces.

Hygiene is your bestdefense.Wash your hands frequently,preferably with a disinfectantsoap,especially when children in your household have colds.

But even carefulhygiene won't ward off every cold.So,what works when a coughing,sneezing, runnynose strikes?

The old prescriptionof two aspirins,lots of water,and bed rest is a good place to start.But you'llalso find some of the folk remedies worth trying.Hot mixtures of sugar(or

honey),lemon,andwater have real benefits.When you arehaving a cold,______.

A.it is always thesame kind of cold that you had last time

B.it may be the samekind of cold that you had last time

C.it is certainlynot the same kind of cold that you had last time

D.it is probably notthe same kind of cold that you had last time