Will there ever be a cure?

摘要

The realisation that colds can kill (main story) has renewed interest in finding vaccines and treatments. The trouble is that the common cold is caused not by one virus but by hundreds of different ones.rnThis means a vaccine or drug that works against one of these viruses, or one family of viruses, is usually ineffective against all the others. What's more, because colds are usually so mild, if treatments cause even minor side effects they can be worse than the disease. Such treatments will never get approval for general use, which is why most companies instead focus on drugs that relieve symptoms.rnNevertheless, some drugs and vaccines are being developed against the cold viruses most likely to turn nasty. A vaccine against RSV, which can cause serious illness in young children and the elderly, is going through clinical trials. It consists of a weakened strain of the virus given as a nasal spray.