common cold

According to the “Zinc for the Common Cold Review” prepared by The Cochrane Collaboration® and published in 2011¹, the common cold is one of the most widespread illnesses, with adults having two to four episodes annually. Children may have 6 to 10 colds a year (and up to 12 colds a year for school children). In the United States, the common cold leads to 75 to 100 million physician visits annually at a conservative cost estimate of US $7.7 billion per year. Americans spend $2.9 billion on over-the-counter drugs and another $400 million on prescription medicines for symptomatic relief. More than one-third of patients who saw a doctor received an antibiotic prescription, which has implications for antibiotic resistance from overuse of such drugs. An estimated 22 to 189 million school days are missed annually due to a cold. As a result, parents missed 126 million workdays to stay home to care for their children. When added to the 150 million work days missed by employees suffering from a cold, the total economic impact of cold-related work loss exceeds $20 billion per year. This accounts for 40% of time lost from work. The complications of the common cold include otitis media, sinusitis and exacerbations of reactive airway diseases. Rhinoviruses are the most frequent cause and may account for nearly 80% of common colds during autumn.

The Cochrane Collaboration® is a registered trademark of The Cochrane Collaboration Secretariat.

Singh M, Das RR. Zinc for the common cold. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD001364. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD001364.pub3.