A short history of the common cold

Abstract

A tickling in the nose, frequent sneezing, chills and a runny nose, followed by a scratchy throat, fatigue, a light headache and lots of thick mucus. Who does not know these symptoms of the classic common cold? For about 50 years, we have known the culprits to be rhinoviruses or other subgroups of the so-called picornaviruses, which lead to short-lived infections in the mucus membranes of the nose, throat and sometimes the bronchial tubes. If we look at the history of mankind and its illnesses, then the 50 years of certain knowledge about the cause of the cold make the discovery seem quite recent. This article offers insight into the history of medicine and examines the evidence — usually hidden — for the cold in various epochs and cultures. Between intuition and surprisingly exact descriptions from the past, sometimes with a blink of the eye, the focus is trained on the nose and the mucus accumulating there, in order to find out how the cold’s appearance was construed. Therapeutic recommendations have ranged from black cumin to cauterizing irons to snuff. Sometimes the suggestions are completely foreign, yet at times they appear surprisingly modern, although ancient in origin.