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 inwinter. The fact is,though,being cold doesn't have anything to do with gettingone.Colds

are caused by thespread of rhinoviruses（鼻病毒）,and,at least so far,medical science is better at telling

you how to avoidgetting one than how to get rid of one.

Children are themost common way cold viruses are spread to adults,because they have more coldsthan

adults一an average of about eight per year.Why do kids seem so much more easily to get colds than their

parents?Simple.They haven'thad the opportunity to become immune to many cold viruses.

There are more than150 different cold viruses,and you never have the same one twice.Being infected

by one makes youimmune to it一but only it.

Colds are usuallyspread by direct contact,not sneezing or coughing. From another person's handto

your hand and thento your nose or eyes is the most common route.The highest concentration of coldviruses

any where is foundunder the thumbnails of a boy,although the viruses can survive for hours on skinor other

smooth surfaces.

Hygiene is your bestdefense.Wash your hands frequently,preferably with a disinfectant soap,

especially whenchildren in your household have colds.

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

nose strikes?

The old prescriptionof two aspirins,lots of water,and bed rest is a good place to start.But you'llalso

find some of thefolk remedies worth trying. Hot mixtures of sugar(or honey),lemon,and waterhave real

benefits.Children have morecolds because

A.they are usuallyinfected about eight times each year

B.they are notimmune to many cold viruses yet

C.they never washtheir hands so that their thumbnails are dirty

D.they don't likeeating lemon