Why don't we have a cure for the common cold?

Because viral diseases are hard to cure to begin with, and the common cold is actually a whole range of similar diseases caused by different viruses.
 
Because there are a large number of rhinoviruses which cause it and a vaccine would be impractical. Anyway, the cure is rest for about a week. It's not that bad that you would want to take anti-virals which have side effects.
 
Gawdzilla said:
So we haven't managed to defeat even one of them?
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As far as I know, we don't have a cure for any viral disease.

We have a vaccine for some - but some diseases (like flu) mutate so rapidly that you need a new vaccine every year, and even then it's based on guesswork and not necessarily effective. The effort and expense involved in developing and administering such a vaccine is pretty large, and - even if it's possible - wouldn't be cost-effective for a mild illness like the common cold (as opposed to flu).
 
It seems that we (humanity) could rid ourselves of the common cold if we really tried. As far as I know it's not like the flu, where there are animal reservoirs that keep supplying new viruses.

It would be a monumental task but only needs to be done once: a cold-virus-quarantine line that sweeps across the globe. I wonder if this has been tested anywhere on a large scale yet.
 
I read an article a few years ago that suggested that we may be able to look at common denominators in the various strains of the cold or the flu, things that are so integral that they can't mutate them away, and make a vaccine that is thereby efficient at protecting form nearly any of these strains.
 
sol invictus said:
As far as I know, we don't have a cure for any viral disease.

We have a vaccine for some - but some diseases (like flu) mutate so rapidly that you need a new vaccine every year, and even then it's based on guesswork and not necessarily effective. The effort and expense involved in developing and administering such a vaccine is pretty large, and - even if it's possible - wouldn't be cost-effective for a mild illness like the common cold (as opposed to flu).
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Luckily for us as a population, virus evolution is directed to favor those which leave the host alive and able to pass the virus on. But we are at risk for that odd mutant which kills quickly and is easily transmitted. Like the 1918 strain.
 
Gawdzilla said:
"If you don't treat a cold it will last 7-10 days. If you do treat it, it will last a week to a week and a half."
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I find this too be quite true for me :)

Besides, I always look forward to taking some time off from work when I have a bad cold, I get pampered, I get to lay around all day taking little naps, and I can catch up on my TV watching!
 
paiute said:
Luckily for us as a population, virus evolution is directed to favor those which leave the host alive and able to pass the virus on. But we are at risk for that odd mutant which kills quickly and is easily transmitted. Like the 1918 strain.
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I think that's oversimplified: In some envirionments organisms that are less damaging to their hosts are selected for, in others the opposite, as "leaving the host alive" comes at the cost of using the host's biochemistry to it's maximum effect for spreading.

For instance, diseases that cause their host to lose massive amounts of fluids quickly can lead to a quick death, but can also be quickly spread through the local water supply (and thus the local population). Depending on conditions that may or may not be selected for over those that cause the host to lose less fluids but live longer.
 
Gawdzilla said:
"If you don't treat a cold it will last 7-10 days. If you do treat it, it will last a week to a week and a half."
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Its worse than that. I've seen several studies indicating that treating cold symptoms makes the cold last longer.
 
sol invictus said:
As far as I know, we don't have a cure for any viral disease.

We have a vaccine for some - but some diseases (like flu) mutate so rapidly that you need a new vaccine every year, and even then it's based on guesswork and not necessarily effective. The effort and expense involved in developing and administering such a vaccine is pretty large, and - even if it's possible - wouldn't be cost-effective for a mild illness like the common cold (as opposed to flu).
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Some Hep C and now some Hep B cases are probably being cured with anti-virals. We have a cure for herpes and shingles outbreaks though it doesn't eliminate the virus from the body. HIV can be suppressed enough to start to consider it a chronic instead of a fatal disease.

I'll have to do some research to see if there are any more but the field of antivirals is expanding rapidly.
 
Pulvinar said:
It seems that we (humanity) could rid ourselves of the common cold if we really tried. As far as I know it's not like the flu, where there are animal reservoirs that keep supplying new viruses.

It would be a monumental task but only needs to be done once: a cold-virus-quarantine line that sweeps across the globe. I wonder if this has been tested anywhere on a large scale yet.
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You would be wrong here. First, there are over 200 known agents that cause upper respiratory infections and about 30-35% remain unidentified. Second, there are animal reservoirs for many of them.
 
Skeptic Ginger said:
You would be wrong here. First, there are over 200 known agents that cause upper respiratory infections and about 30-35% remain unidentified. Second, there are animal reservoirs for many of them.
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Damn. Ok, so it's a little tougher: we clear a continent of all animals and start repopulating it with certified-clean zygotes in incubators. When that continent fills, we clear the next one. Probably have to partition off and filter the oceans too. And then there's the atmosphere...
 
Pulvinar said:
Damn. Ok, so it's a little tougher: we clear a continent of all animals and start repopulating it with certified-clean zygotes in incubators. When that continent fills, we clear the next one. Probably have to partition off and filter the oceans too. And then there's the atmosphere...
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Don't forget sterilizing the dirt. ;)
 
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