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Common cold - Background information
What is it?
- The common cold is the conventional term used to describe a mild, self-limited upper respiratory tract infection characterized by nasal stuffiness and discharge, sneezing, sore throat, and cough.
- Although it is usually perceived as a single illness, the common cold is caused by a wide range of viruses from several different families. So far, this has made a 'cure' for the cold impossible.
[Heikkinen and Jarvinen, 2003]
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