Download Subtitles for Common Cold Causes and Symptoms Video

hey everyone in this lesson we are going to discuss everything you need to know about the common cold including what causes it risk factors for getting the common cold and we're also going to talk about these signs and symptoms of the cold how to distinguish it from the flu and we're gonna talk about treatments and preventative measures so the common cold is also known as acute rhinitis acute rhinitis so what is acute rhinitis rhinitis if we break the word down the prefix Rhine means nose you can think of rhino or rhinoceros rhyme means nose and itis means inflammation so it's acute inflammation of the nose essentially that's what common cold is but specifically it is a viral infection of the upper respiratory tract so upper respiratory tract is the respiratory tract above the larynx it is the most common acute illness in the developed world of the most common and as we're all aware there's a seasonal variance with highest number of cases in the winter months and it's very typical that an adult will get two to four common colds per year whereas a child can get even more six to eight per year now there are many causative organisms that can cause the common cold they're all viruses because this is a viral infection so there are more than 200 viruses that can cause the cold the number one category of viruses that cause the common cold are the rhinoviruses and there are over 100 serotypes of rhinoviruses so that's very easy to remember Rhino viruses are the same prefix Rhino means nose so rhinoviruses so very easy to remember and they are so common of a cause of the common cold that they are approximately almost 1/3 to 1/2 of cases so 30 to 50 percent of all cases of the common cold are caused by rhinoviruses in the second category of viruses that cause the common cold are the corona viruses the corona viruses are the second most common category of causes so we've heard about corona viruses like the virus that causes Cova 19 but we're not going to talk about that here we're talking about the four common corona viruses in the population that can commonly cause the common cold the four here are H CoV our human coronavirus 2 2 9 3 H Co V and L 63 h co v OC 43 and h co v HK u 1 so these corona viruses can occur on a seasonal basis and they can cause approximately 10 to 15% of all cases of the common cold the third most common category of causes of the common cold are the influenza viruses so the influenza viruses usually cause about 5 to 15% of cases so smaller portion para influenza viruses can also cause the common cold a roughly about 5 percent of cases the respiratory syncytial virus over RSV can cause again about 5 percent of cases now there are other viruses that can cause the common cold as well they're very rare and less likely to happen but they can cause an acute rhinitis and these include adeno viruses enter viruses like the Coxsackie virus usually if we have a summer cold weekend we've heard of a summer cold before it's usually coxsackievirus or an enterovirus that is causing the summer cold and there's also meta pneumo virus that can cause a common cold as well and very very unlikely so how is a common cold transmitted so the transmission of the common cold occurs person-to-person that makes sense we all know that usually occurs from droplets or secretions from the infected individual usually secretions or droplets from the respiratory or upper respiratory tract so in think of mucus or runny nose that is essentially shedding the virus so virus can be in the nasal secretions and then the virus can shed and it's shed the most on the second day of the illness so that's the peak shedding of the virus and the viruses shed from respiratory secretions not from the saliva so there have been studies looking at this they've checked us alive of individuals usually 90% of the time the virus is not in the saliva but it can be in some instances so don't want to say it's not always from the saliva or not always shed in the saliva but majority of the time it is not so person person is one way there's also airborne and close contact as ways that this can be transmitted as well the virus can be aerosolized and go out in the air in large and small droplets and it can get on to hands so we can transmit the virus through hand contact and then we can transmit it through fomites so fomites are indirect objects like tables and desks and chairs so an individual who touches their runny nose and touches a table can leave the virus on the table and that virus can last there for hours it's estimated that the viruses can survive on surfaces for two to four hours so what are some of the influencing or risk factors the first one is sick contacts the most important risk factor if we don't have sick contacts were less likely to become infected not always though because you can get it from fomites or indirect objects a big one here a big category of sick contacts are daycare children again children are estimated to have about six to eight common colds in a year so they're more likely to become infected with the common cold so they're more likely to have it and if you're exposed to daycare children more often you're more likely to get the coal yourself smoking is the second risk factor if you smoke you're more likely to catch the cold the third is psychological stress we've all felt this before if there's times in our life where we're very stressed and there's a lot of stress we might be able to get through that stressful period but then after we get sick and psychological stress can cause it some mild immunosuppression and can increase our risk of getting the common cold the fourth risk factor is fatigue decreased sleep it is tied together with the psychological stress if you're fatigued you're not rested you become more susceptible to getting the common cold the fifth is decreased physical activity so if you have decreased physical activity you're more likely to get the common cold and the sixth influencing or risk factor is having a history of upper respiratory tract diseases or respiratory allergies so this plays into more the severity of the symptoms of the common cold if you have a history of these issues you're more likely to have a more severe and more long-lasting presentation of the common cold and the seventh is malnutrition again all tied together with psychological stress and fatigue and a decreased Constitution or decreased immune system function what are some of the clinical features of the common cold so before we get into clinical features the incubation period of the common cold is anywhere from one to five days so it can occur quite rapidly the main clinical features are nasal congestion so you're you have a stuffy nose and you have rhinorrhea a runny nose so those are the two biggest clinical features you're gonna see with a common cold and the rhinorrhea is bilateral so both nostrils and it's gonna be clear sputum it might be slightly Mew copula and maybe a little bit of a white opaque tinge to it but it's mostly clear it's going to be copious in amounts you can also see sneezing with this and you may see a coffee it's not necessarily going to happen but you may see a cough a lot of times it's due to post nasal drip you're gonna have a lot of mucus secretions running down the back of your throat causing irritation and cough and we can also see the lymph adenopathy swollen tender lymph nodes in the neck some other signs and symptoms of the common cold include pharyngitis so a sore throat conjunctivitis so information of the conjunctiva in the eyes and you may may have low-grade fever headache mileages fatigue unlikely if you have these symptoms is more likely to be a flu or influenza but some viruses that cause a common cold can cause some of these other symptoms as well and a lot of times it's the adeno viruses so oftentimes a way to distinguish between the common cold and the flu or influenza is that influence you're gonna have a fever with myalgias and a cough common cold you're gonna have nasal congestion runny nose sneezing and those are the main distinguishing factors some symptoms do over will happen sometimes in influence you might have some nasal congestion and in common cold you might have a little bit of call from the post nasal drip but a lot of times as I mentioned before the common cold is your nose and nasal congestion rhinorrhea and in influenza or the flu you're going to have fever cough and myalgias or muscle aches and pains so now that we know the signs and symptoms of the common cold what are some of the complications of getting the common cold some of the complications are usually due to a secondary bacterial infection so the common cold is due to a viral infection and then it can suppress our immune system it can cause us to be more susceptible to becoming secondarily infected with a bacteria so some of the major complications are the most common complications include acute otitis media so acute otitis media is essentially an inflammation of the middle ear so here in these images you can see the eardrum or the tympanic membrane that is bulging and you can see in this image here you can actually see pus or fluid in behind the eardrum that is causing it to bulge out so when we look inside the ear with an otoscope we can see the tympanic membrane or the eardrum bulging out and that is a sign of acute otitis media another complication is sinusitis so sinusitis is itis is inflammation and sinus is our sinuses so it's an inflammation of the sinuses so can be the frontal or maxillary sinuses or your ethmoid or sphenoid sinuses can inflamed and this can cause issues as well you can also see bronchitis as a complication so inflation of the bronchioles and our lungs can also get pneumonia so the mone is not part of the common cold but it can be a complication of a common cold so you can get a secondary bacterial infection or a secondary pneumonia in individuals with asthma or COPD which is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease they are more at risk because being infected with a virus or a bacterial infection can lead to an exacerbation of these underlying conditions so they can get an exacerbation of asthma or COPD so they have worsening wheezing and worsening shortness of breath these are the complications that we can see with a common cold with the common cold symptoms usually are worst for the first 1 to 3 days then they subside after about one week so it takes about 7 to 10 days for the common cold to eventually subside and even after it subsides we can see a post infectious cough which can occur for weeks again it could be due to a post nasal drip we can have a prolonged post nasal drip after having the common cold and that post nasal drip can continue to drip in the back of your throat you can often feel it and it can drip into your lower Airways causing a cough so sometimes you feel like you have to clear your throat or you feel a little irritation you feel like you have to cough that can last for weeks so how do we make the diagnosis and how do we treat the common cold diagnosis of the common cold is a clinical diagnosis we see a stuffy nose we see a runny nose with clear nasal discharge this is very very common it's a common cool treatment is supportive this is a viral infection a lot of times it is self limited it only lasts for seven to ten days you want to look for some of those other complications like the cutit itis media and pneumonia other complications that you can treat with antibiotics a lot of times they are due to a secondary bacterial infection but oftentimes this is a supportive treatment for the common cold you just want to treat their symptoms that they are having so again it's symptom control fluids rest in warm salt water gargling you could use decongestants to help with any congestion issues that you have and for those individuals who have a lot of post nasal drip causing a lot of coffee and a lot of issues at night with cough you can use cough suppressants in for any other aches or pains you can use acetaminophen or Tylenol how can we try to prevent getting the common cold in the first place so prevention is all about the risk factors we talked about earlier we want to make sure we wash our hands we want to avoid touching our face with our hands we want to try to be as clean as possible we want to try to sterilize any fomites in the environment that may be carrying the virus stress relief so we talked about psychological stress can increase your risk for getting the common cold so you want to have stress relief you want to quit smoking smoking increases your risk of getting the common cold and you want to eat healthy and stay active and try to get proper sleep so again wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds you can use hand sanitizer avoid touching your face because a lot of times the fires can get in through your mucous membranes you want to be as clean as possible try to sterilize any objects that it might have been contaminated with a virus stress relief quit smoking eat healthy stay active and proper sleep so if you want to learn more about other infectious diseases please check out my infectious disease playlist and if you haven't already please consider liking subscribing and clicking the notification file help support the channel and say up-to-date on future lessons and as always continue to live laugh and learn and I hope to see you next time