Fauci: Cause of 20-30% of adult common colds still unidentified.

On the front of its Personal Journal section, the Wall Street Journal (3/25, D1, Reddy, Subscription Publication) reports that according to the National Institutes of Health, the number one cause of visits to a physician is the common cold. Colds, which may be caused by any of some 200 known viruses, may last for up to two weeks. It is possible for people to get colds back-to-back, particularly during cold weather when people are stuck inside, or to confuse symptoms of a sinus infection or allergies with those of a cold. Some cold symptoms may be also caused by respiratory syncytial virus, the coronavirus and the enterovirus. The piece quotes Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who said, “The most confounding thing of all is that we still haven’t identified the cause of 20% to 30% of adult common colds.”