A cure for the common cold

Posted at 10:46 AM on December 20, 2011 by Bob Collins (9 Comments)
Filed under: Health, Science

I've been in house confinement for more than a week now, growing more frustrated each day that for all of its accomplishments, science still hasn't beaten the common cold virus.

But maybe it's about to.

The BBC reports today that Todd Rider, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is developing an antiviral drug that's proven it works against 15 viruses -- including the common cold -- to which it has been applied in mice.

But other scientists are skeptical because the research was published in a journal that doesn't have a peer-review system. They also note a breakthrough could be years away from being tested on humans.

In the meantime, the rest of us will continue to be smitten by viruses passed to us, no doubt, by the colleague who came to work sick to show what a team player he/she is.

---

Comments (9)

"In the meantime, the rest of us will continue to be smitten by viruses passed to us, no doubt, by the colleague who came to work sick to show what a team player he/she is"

That is my work environment. My boss is an old military guy and he believes you show up for work even if you're on your death bed. I resisted for a few years and took sick days to heal, but since no one else does it is a waste. This is the first year I've caved and I've been at work for the last week sick, it's ridiculous -- but the boss is happy.

Posted by David | December 20, 2011 11:02 AM

---

Yep, meantime, the troops drop one by one.

Posted by Bob Collins | December 20, 2011 11:11 AM

---

Tried the research-substantiated "Hot Bath and a Bottle of Bushmills" remedy? ( Can be substituted by Jameson's in a pinch.)

Posted by Jim Shapiro | December 20, 2011 11:56 AM

---

Yang's Chicken Noodle Soup
(To Go menu - Combination Dinner "E")

zinc lozenges

Posted by John P II | December 20, 2011 12:16 PM

---

Truly exciting times we live in... lets hope some one actually bothers to bring something like this to market (assuming it's safe and effective) and it doesn't get stuck between the chalk boards at universities, and the drug companies that fear bring it to market with out a patent means they will show no profit from it.

Posted by jon | December 20, 2011 1:20 PM

---

"In the meantime, the rest of us will continue to be smitten by viruses passed to us, no doubt, by the colleague who came to work sick to show what a team player he/she is"

In fear of job loss I'll bet.

Posted by This is NOT lucy | December 20, 2011 1:32 PM

---

In 40 years in the working world, I've never seen "came in and affected the rest of the staff when you should've called in sick and been the lone casualty" show up on the "PLUS" side of a performance review.

Obviously there are companies that, as described above, are neanderthals, but the companies that give sick time do so for a reason.

But this "gut it out" mentality is why most of those preparations for a pandemic a year or so ago were such nonsense.

Posted by Bob Collins | December 20, 2011 2:10 PM

---

Sadly, not all employers give employees sick days. Where I work, if you're not here you don't get paid unless you take the tiny bit of vacation time they give you. They did scatter bottles of hand sanitizer around, so that should solve it.

Posted by John P. | December 20, 2011 2:59 PM

---

Be careful what you wish for. The side effects will most likely include death so I'll take the crud anytime. Nothing cracks us up more than watching the pharma ads for the must-have drug (insert your choice here) and seeing the side effects that are worse than the malady.

I do agree with This is NOT lucy, with so many in the workforce worried that they will be pushed out the door, it's not surprising that the walking sick are coming in.

Posted by Jack | December 20, 2011 4:36 PM

---

Post a comment

The following HTML tags are allowed in your comments:
+ Bold: <b>Text</b>
+ Italic: <i>Text</i>
+ Link: <a href="http://url" target="_blank">Link</a>
Fields marked with * are required.

Name*:

E-mail Address*:

URL:

Remember personal info?

Comments*:

Comment Preview appears above this form upon pressing the "preview" button. Edit your comment and press "preview" again, until you are satisfied with your comment.

Your comment may not appear on the blog until several minutes after it was submitted.

• E-mail this page
• Print this page
• Tweet this page
• Share this

Services

• Hourly Newscast
• HD Radio
• iPhone App / Mobile
• E-mail newsletters
• RSS feeds
• Podcasts
• Submit your photos
• Videos
• Weather
• Most e-mailed stories