By Dr C.L. Teng

IT is six in the morning, and you wake up with a headache and stuffy nose. Your throat feels kind of scratchy. You body hurts all over and you hate to get up and go to work.

Yes, it is the familiar common cold again. Adults may have two to four episodes per year; children can have anything between six and eight episodes per year.

"You can catch a cold if you get caught in the rain."

Really? In our tropical country, with the more than occasional sudden downpour, how many of us have been caught in the rain, but do we always fall sick the next day?

The common cold is caused by viruses, tiny germs that spread by coughs and sneezes. Remember the health advice: cover your cough and wash your hands properly. Our hands are easily contaminated by the common cold virus and the droplets coming out from our noses and mouths spread easily to those around us.

Numerous viruses are known to lead to the common cold, and some of the more well known ones include rhinovirus, adenovirus, and the coronavirus. Thus common cold is actually a group of diseases, all having the similar symptoms such as cough, runny nose, sore throat, and occasionally fever with headache.

The word "flu" is often associated loosely to the common cold by most people, but this word originally came from "influenza". Most common colds are not caused by the influenza virus.