Common cold viruses circulating in children threaten wild chimpanzees through asymptomatic adult carriers.

Reverse zoonotic respiratory diseases threaten great apes across Sub-Saharan Africa. Studies of wild chimpanzees have identified the causative agents of most respiratory disease outbreaks as "common cold" paediatric human pathogens, but reverse zoonotic transmission pathways have remained unclear. Between May 2019 and August 2021, we conducted a prospective cohort study of 234 children aged 3-11 years in communities bordering Kibale National Park, Uganda, and 30 adults who were forest workers and regularly entered the park. We collected 2047 respiratory symptoms surveys to quantify clinical severity and simultaneously collected 1989 nasopharyngeal swabs approximately monthly for multiplex viral diagnostics. Throughout the course of the study, we also collected 445 faecal samples from 55 wild chimpanzees living nearby in Kibale in social groups that have experienced repeated, and sometimes lethal, epidemics of human-origin respiratory viral disease. We characterized respiratory pathogens in each cohort and examined statistical associations between PCR positivity for detected pathogens and potential risk factors. Children exhibited high incidence rates of respiratory infections, whereas incidence rates in adults were far lower. COVID-19 lockdown in 2020-2021 significantly decreased respiratory disease incidence in both people and chimpanzees. Human respiratory infections peaked in June and September, corresponding to when children returned to school. Rhinovirus, which caused a 2013 outbreak that killed 10% of chimpanzees in a Kibale community, was the most prevalent human pathogen throughout the study and the only pathogen present at each monthly sampling, even during COVID-19 lockdown. Rhinovirus was also most likely to be carried asymptomatically by adults. Although we did not detect human respiratory pathogens in the chimpanzees during the cohort study, we detected human metapneumovirus in two chimpanzees from a February 2023 outbreak that were genetically similar to viruses detected in study participants in 2019. Our data suggest that respiratory pathogens circulate in children and that adults become asymptomatically infected during high-transmission times of year. These asymptomatic adults may then unknowingly carry the pathogens into forest and infect chimpanzees. This conclusion, in turn, implies that intervention strategies based on respiratory symptoms in adults are unlikely to be effective for reducing reverse zoonotic transmission of respiratory viruses to chimpanzees.

Low early life socioeconomic status and susceptibility to the common cold in adulthood: The moderating role of negative affective reactivity.

OBJECTIVE: Socioeconomic disadvantage during childhood and adolescence is associated with higher risk for many physical health problems, including infectious disease, throughout the lifespan. Greater negative affective (NA) reactivity has shown similar links to greater risk for physical health conditions and altered patterns of biological functioning associated with acute respiratory infection as socioeconomic disadvantage; yet their interactive effects on physical health outcomes have not been examined. Thus, the present study examined whether NA reactivity accentuated the link between early socioeconomic disadvantage and susceptibility to the common cold. METHOD: Participants were 212 adults (42% female, 18-55 years old) who completed measures of childhood socioeconomic status (SES; parental home ownership) and were subsequently exposed to a virus that causes the common cold. Participants then remained quarantined for 5 days, during which multiple indicators of viral infection and clinical illness were assessed. Before and after quarantine, participants completed a laboratory stress task to assess NA reactivity. RESULTS: NA reactivity moderated the relationship between parental home ownership and clinical cold diagnosis in adulthood (b = -0.11, p = .018), such that fewer years of parental home ownership was associated with increased odds for developing a cold only among adults who had greater NA reactivity (OR = 0.89, 95% confidence interval, CI [0.82, 0.96]), but not among those who had lower NA reactivity (OR = 1.01, 95% CI [0.94, 1.09]). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that how individuals negatively react to psychosocial stressors in adulthood may exacerbate the impact of childhood SES on acute infection susceptibility. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Rhinovirus-A True Respiratory Threat or a Common Inconvenience of Childhood?

A decade-long neglect of rhinovirus as an important agent of disease in humans was primarily due to the fact that they were seen as less virulent and capable of causing only mild respiratory infections such as common cold. However, with an advent of molecular diagnostic methods, an increasing number of reports placed them among the pathogens found in the lower respiratory tract and recognized them as important risk factors for asthma-related pathology in childhood. As the spread of rhinovirus was not severely affected by the implementation of social distancing and other measures during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, its putative pathogenic role has become even more evident in recent years. By concentrating on children as the most vulnerable group, in this narrative review we first present classification and main traits of rhinovirus, followed by epidemiology and clinical presentation, risk factors for severe forms of the disease, long-term complications and the pathogenesis of asthma, as well as a snapshot of treatment trials and studies. Recent evidence suggests that the rhinovirus is a significant contributor to respiratory illness in both high-risk and low-risk populations of children.

Coughs, colds and "freshers' flu" survey in the University of Cambridge, 2007-2008.

Universities provide many opportunities for the spread of infectious respiratory illnesses. Students are brought together into close proximity from all across the world and interact with one another in their accommodation, through lectures and small group teaching and in social settings. The COVID-19 global pandemic has highlighted the need for sufficient data to help determine which of these factors are important for infectious disease transmission in universities and hence control university morbidity as well as community spillover. We describe the data from a previously unpublished self-reported university survey of coughs, colds and influenza-like symptoms collected in Cambridge, UK, during winter 2007-2008. The online survey collected information on symptoms and socio-demographic, academic and lifestyle factors. There were 1076 responses, 97% from University of Cambridge students (5.7% of the total university student population), 3% from staff and <1% from other participants, reporting onset of symptoms between September 2007 and March 2008. Undergraduates are seen to report symptoms earlier in the term than postgraduates; differences in reported date of symptoms are also seen between subjects and accommodation types, although these descriptive results could be confounded by survey biases. Despite the historical and exploratory nature of the study, this is one of few recent detailed datasets of influenza-like infection in a university context and is especially valuable to share now to improve understanding of potential transmission dynamics in universities during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Are patients with Parkinson's disease at a lower risk of catching the common cold? Propensity score matching.

INTRODUCTION: Accumulating evidence indicating that inflammatory responses play crucial roles in Parkinson's disease (PD) development provided a hypothesis that physiological alpha-synuclein may contribute to inflammatory responses against infections during non-advanced stages of PD. Thus, we examined the risk of catching a common cold in patients with PD as compared to other common brain diseases. METHODS: We extracted PD (non-advanced; without dementia) and control (AD: Alzheimer's disease, migraine, epilepsy, and ischemic stroke) patient data from insurance claim data available between 2010 and 2021. After confirming the clinical PD diagnosis, we investigated factors associated with cold diagnoses and used propensity score matching to identify differences in the incidence of colds between PD and control patients. RESULTS: Diagnosis of colds in PD patients (n = 726) and controls (AD = 377, migraine = 1019, epilepsy = 3414, ischemic stroke = 6943) was found in 1186 (9.5%) patients, which was independently associated with being female (odds ratio: OR 1.59; 95%CI 1.41-1.79; P < 0.0001), follow-up by neurologists (OR 1.30; 95%CI 1.15-1.48; P < 0.0001), diagnosis of PD (OR 0.30; 95%CI 0.20-0.45; P < 0.0001) and COVID-19 pandemic period (OR 0.58; 95%CI 0.47-0.72; P < 0.0001). After propensity score matching, the incidence of colds was significantly lower in PD (3.4%) versus in controls; AD (9.8%; P < 0.0001), migraine (13.3%; P < 0.0001), epilepsy (11.0%; P < 0.0001), ischemic stroke (8.8%; P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with PD were less likely to be diagnosed with colds. However, several confounding factors will need to be examined. Moreover, alpha-synuclein may provide protective resistance to viral infections by activating the immune system due to chronic inflammation in non-advanced PD patients.

Burden and seasonality of primary and secondary symptomatic common cold coronavirus infections in Nicaraguan children.

BACKGROUND: The current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic highlights the need for an increased understanding of coronavirus epidemiology. In a pediatric cohort in Nicaragua, we evaluate the seasonality and burden of common cold coronavirus (ccCoV) infection and evaluate likelihood of symptoms in reinfections. METHODS: Children presenting with symptoms of respiratory illness were tested for each of the four ccCoVs (NL63, 229E, OC43, and HKU1). Annual blood samples collected before ccCoV infection were tested for antibodies against each ccCoV. Seasonality was evaluated using wavelet and generalized additive model (GAM) analyses, and age-period effects were investigated using a Poisson model. We also evaluate the risk of symptom presentation between primary and secondary infections. RESULTS: In our cohort of 2576 children from 2011 to 2016, we observed 595 ccCoV infections and 107 cases of ccCoV-associated lower respiratory infection (LRI). The overall incidence rate was 61.1 per 1000 person years (95% confidence interval (CI): 56.3, 66.2). Children under two had the highest incidence of ccCoV infections and associated LRI. ccCoV incidence rapidly decreases until about age 6. Each ccCoV circulated throughout the year and demonstrated annual periodicity. Peaks of NL63 typically occurred 3 months before 229E peaks and 6 months after OC43 peaks. Approximately 69% of symptomatic ccCoV infections were secondary infections. There was slightly lower risk (rate ratio (RR): 0.90, 95% CI: 0.83, 0.97) of LRI between secondary and primary ccCoV infections among participants under the age of 5. CONCLUSIONS: ccCoV spreads annually among children with the greatest burden among ages 0-1. Reinfection is common; prior infection is associated with slight protection against LRI among the youngest children.

Immunological memory to common cold coronaviruses assessed longitudinally over a three-year period pre-COVID19 pandemic.

The immune memory to common cold coronaviruses (CCCs) influences SARS-CoV-2 infection outcome, and understanding its effect is crucial for pan-coronavirus vaccine development. We performed a longitudinal analysis of pre-COVID19-pandemic samples from 2016-2019 in young adults and assessed CCC-specific CD4+ T cell and antibody responses. Notably, CCC responses were commonly detected with comparable frequencies as with other common antigens and were sustained over time. CCC-specific CD4+ T cell responses were associated with low HLA-DR+CD38+ signals, and their magnitude did not correlate with yearly CCC infection prevalence. Similarly, CCC-specific and spike RBD-specific IgG responses were stable in time. Finally, high CCC-specific CD4+ T cell reactivity, but not antibody titers, was associated with pre-existing SARS-CoV-2 immunity. These results provide a valuable reference for understanding the immune response to endemic coronaviruses and suggest that steady and sustained CCC responses are likely from a stable pool of memory CD4+ T cells due to repeated earlier exposures and possibly occasional reinfections.

Identifying socio-ecological drivers of common cold in Bhutan: a national surveillance data analysis.

The common cold is a leading cause of morbidity and contributes significantly to the health costs in Bhutan. The study utilized multivariate Zero-inflated Poisson regression in a Bayesian framework to identify climatic variability and spatial and temporal patterns of the common cold in Bhutan. There were 2,480,509 notifications of common cold between 2010 and 2018. Children aged < 15 years were twice (95% credible interval [CrI] 2.2, 2.5) as likely to get common cold than adults, and males were 12.4% (95 CrI 5.5%, 18.7%) less likely to get common cold than females. A 10 mm increase in rainfall lagged one month, and each 1 °C increase of maximum temperature was associated with a 5.1% (95% CrI 4.2%, 6.1%) and 2.6% (95% CrI 2.3%, 2.8%) increase in the risk of cold respectively. An increase in elevation of 100 m and 1% increase in relative humidity lagged three months were associated with a decrease in risk of common cold by 0.1% (95% CrI 0.1%, 0.2%) and 0.3% (95% CrI 0.2%, 0.3%) respectively. Seasonality and spatial heterogeneity can partly be explained by the association of common cold to climatic variables. There was statistically significant residual clustering after accounting for covariates. The finding highlights the influence of climatic variables on common cold and suggests that prioritizing control strategies for acute respiratory infection program to subdistricts and times of the year when climatic variables are associated with common cold may be an effective strategy.

Effect of prenatal and postnatal exposure to home renovation on the risk of common cold in preschool children.

Common cold is usually considered to be associated with outdoor climate, but the evidence linking with indoor environmental factors is lacking. The role of indoor renovations during which critical timing window on childhood common cold remains unclear. Therefore, we investigated the effect of exposure to new furniture and/or redecoration during prenatal and postnatal periods on the occurrence and duration of common cold in preschool children. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 39 782 children aged 3-6 years in seven cities of China. The occurrence and duration of common cold in children, and their lifetime exposures to indoor new furniture and redecoration (including pregnancy, the first year of life, and after one year old) were assessed using a questionnaire administered by the parents. Associations between high frequency (>5 colds) and long duration (≥2 weeks per cold) of common cold during past 12 months and exposure to indoor new furniture/redecoration were examined by logistic regression models in terms of odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). We found that the prevalence of high frequency and long duration of common cold in preschool children in China were, respectively, 9.2% and 11.9%. Frequent common cold was significantly associated with exposure to indoor new furniture/redecoration during pregnancy, first year, and after 1 year old, respectively, with the ORs (95% CI) = 1.25 (1.12-1.39), 1.11 (1.00-1.25), and 1.09 (1.01-1.18). Furthermore, childhood long duration per cold was associated with exposure to indoor new furniture/redecoration during pregnancy with OR (95% CI) of 1.14 (1.03-1.25) but not with postnatal exposure. We identified that prenatal exposure to home renovation was more critical than postnatal exposure for an increased risk of high frequency and long duration of common cold. Sensitivity analysis showed that the association between prenatal exposure to indoor renovations and the risk of childhood common cold was consistent and robust, and the associations were modified by some personal and indoor environmental factors. Our findings indicated that prenatal and postnatal exposure to home renovation played an important role in the risk of childhood common cold, supporting the hypothesis of "fetal origin of childhood infection."

Survey of potentially inappropriate prescriptions for common cold symptoms in Japan: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Common cold is among the main reasons patients visit a medical facility. However, few studies have investigated whether prescriptions for common cold in Japan comply with domestic and international evidence. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether prescriptions for common cold complied with domestic and international evidence. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted between October 22, 2020, and January 16, 2021. Patients with cold symptoms who visited the two dispensing pharmacies and met the eligibility criteria were interviewed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The pharmacists at each store and a physician classified the patients into two groups: the potentially inappropriate prescribing group and the appropriate prescribing group. RESULTS: Of the 150 selected patients, 14 were excluded and 136 were included in the analysis. Males accounted for 44.9% of the total study population, and the median patient age was 34 years (interquartile range [IQR], 27-42). The prevalence rates of potentially inappropriate prescriptions and appropriate prescriptions were 89.0% and 11.0%, respectively and the median drug costs were 602.0 yen (IQR, 479.7-839.2) [$5.2 (IQR, 4.2-7.3)] and 406.7 yen (IQR, 194.5-537.2) [$3.5 (IQR, 1.7-4.7)], respectively. The most common potentially inappropriate prescriptions were the prescription of oral cephem antibacterial agents to patients who did not have symptoms of bacterial infections (50.4%) and ß2 stimulants to those who did not have respiratory symptoms due to underlying disease or history (33.9%). CONCLUSIONS: Approximately 90% of prescriptions for common cold symptoms in the area were potentially inappropriate. Our findings could contribute to the monitoring of the use of medicines for the treatment of common cold symptoms.

Rhinovirus Incidence Rates Indicate We Are Tired of Non-pharmacological Interventions Against Coronavirus Disease 2019.

BACKGROUND: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the incidence of rhinovirus (RV) is inversely related to the intensity of non-pharmacological interventions (NPIs), such as universal mask wearing and physical distancing. METHODS: Using RV surveillance data, changes in the effect of NPIs were investigated in South Korea during the pandemic. The time to the first visible effect of NPIs after the onset of NPIs (T1), time to the maximum effect (T2), and duration of the maximum effect (T3) were measured for each surge. For each week, the RVdiff [(RV incidence during the pandemic) - (RV incidence within 5 years before the pandemic)] was calculated, and number of weeks for RVdiff to be below zero after NPIs (time to RVdiff ≤ 0) and number of weeks RVdiff remains below zero after NPIs (duration of RVdiff ≤ 0) were measured for each surge. RESULTS: During the study period, four surges of COVID-19 were reported. As the pandemic progressed, T1 and T2 increased, but T3 decreased. Additionally, the "time to RVdiff of ≤ 0" increased and "duration of RVdiff of ≤ 0" decreased. These changes became more pronounced during the third surge (mid-November 2020), before the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine, and from the emergence of the delta variant. CONCLUSION: The effect of NPIs appears slower, the duration of the effect becomes shorter, and the intensity also decreases less than a year after the onset of the pandemic owing to people's exhaustion in implementing NPIs. These findings suggest that the COVID-19 response strategy must be completely overhauled.

Vitamin C supplementation reduces the odds of developing a common cold in Republic of Korea Army recruits: randomised controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: The Republic of Korea (ROK) military has a high incidence of respiratory diseases at training centres. Vitamin C has been reported to reduce the incidence of colds. For the purpose of preventing soldiers' respiratory diseases, this study aimed to investigate whether vitamin C intake can prevent common colds in the ROK Army soldiers. METHODS: This was a randomised, placebo-controlled, and double-blind trial of soldiers who enlisted in the Korea Army Training Centre for 30 days from 12 February to 13 March 2018. The study participants were divided into groups (vitamin C vs placebo). The military medical records were searched to determine whether the participants had a common cold. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the association between vitamin C intake and diagnosis of common colds. In addition, subgroup analysis on the relationship between vitamin C intake and common cold according to smoking status, training camp and physical rank was conducted. RESULTS: A total of 1444 participants were included in our study. Of these participants, 695 received vitamin C (6000 mg/day, vitamin C group), while 749 participants received placebo (0 mg/day, placebo group). The vitamin C group had a 0.80-fold lower risk of getting a common cold than did the placebo group. Subgroup analyses showed that this effect was stronger among subjects in camp A, among never smokers and among those in physical rank 3. CONCLUSION: Vitamin C intake provides evidence to suggest that reducing the common colds in Korean Army soldiers. Our results may serve as a basis for introducing military healthcare policies that can provide vitamin C supplementation for military personnel in basic military training.

Prospective cohort study of bedroom heating and risk of common cold in children.

BACKGROUND: In countries with mild winter climates and inadequate heating, the relationship between housing conditions and health outcomes in winter have not been well studied. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between heater type and temperature factors in the bedroom and incidence of the common cold among children in Japan. METHODS: In this prospective cohort study, we distributed baseline questionnaires and temperature loggers in December 2019 and administered follow-up questionnaires in March 2020. We recruited children under the age of 15 years. We performed Poisson regression analysis and logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Of 297 participants, air conditioners were the most prevalent (n = 105, 35%), followed by gas or kerosene heaters (n = 50, 17%), and floor heaters (n = 31, 10%). Air-conditioners were associated with higher incidence of all events related to the common cold, especially having a fever (adjusted incidence rate ratio (aIRR) = 1.84, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.41-2.40). Gas or kerosene and floor heaters showed a lower incidence rate of some events related to the common cold, such as school or nursery school absence (aIRR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.37-0.82 and aIRR = 0.39, 95% CI: 0.23-0.67, respectively). Bedroom temperature did not show a positive association, but children who always felt cold showed a higher incidence of some events related to the common cold. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings imply that the heating approach and modal thermal comfort, such as location of heating appliances, humidity, airflow, and radiant heat, may be more important for the onset of common cold in children than bedroom temperature itself.

Two novel human coronavirus OC43 genotypes circulating in hospitalized children with pneumonia in China.

HCoV-OC43 is one of the mildly pathogenic coronaviruses with high infection rates in common population. Here, 43 HCoV-OC43 related cases with pneumonia were reported, corresponding genomes of HCoV-OC43 were obtained. Phylogenetic analyses based on complete genome, orf1ab and spike genes revealed that two novel genotypes of HCoV-OC43 have emerged in China. Obvious recombinant events also can be detected in the analysis of the evolutionary dynamics of novel HCoV-OC43 genotypes. Estimated divergence time analysis indicated that the two novel genotypes had apparently independent evolutionary routes. Efforts should be conducted for further investigation of genomic diversity and evolution analysis of mildly pathogenic coronaviruses.

Prescription pattern analysis for antibiotics in working-age workers diagnosed with common cold.

Antimicrobial resistance is a major health concern. A primary cause is the inappropriate use of antimicrobials, particularly by patients with upper respiratory tract infection. However, baseline information for antibiotic use for common cold before being applied the National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance in Japan is lacking. Here, we analyzed the inappropriate use of antibiotics in the working-age workers. We used large claims data from an annual health check-up for at least 5 consecutive years. Among 201,223 participants, we included 18,659 working-age workers who were diagnosed with common cold at a clinic/hospital. We calculated the proportion of patients with common cold who were prescribed antibiotics and analyzed predictive factors associated with antibiotics prescription. Antibiotics were prescribed to 49.2% (n = 9180) of patients diagnosed with common cold. In the logistic regression analysis, the group taking antibiotics was predominantly younger, male, without chronic diseases, and diagnosed at a small hospital/clinic (where the number of beds was 0-19). Cephems accounted for the highest proportion of prescribed antibiotics, with 40-45% of patients being prescribed antibiotics. Our data may be applied to prioritize resources such as medical staff-intervention or education of working-age people without chronic diseases who visit clinics for common cold to avoid the potential inappropriate use of antibiotics and prevent antimicrobial resistance acceleration.

Changes in the proportion and severity of patients with fever or common cold symptoms utilizing an after-hours house call medical service during the COVID-19 pandemic in Tokyo, Japan: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Trends in the characteristics and disease severity of patients using an after-hours house call (AHHC) medical service changed during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. However, there have been no reports on this issue since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to investigate patients' tendencies to utilize an AHHC medical service for fever or common cold symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study compared the characteristics and disease severity of patients with fever or common cold symptoms utilizing an AHHC medical service offered by a single large company between the control period (December 1, 2018 to April 30, 2019) and the COVID-19 pandemic exposure period (December 1, 2019 to April 30, 2020). We also assessed the proportion of these patients in relation to all patients calling the service for any reason. RESULTS: During the control and COVID-19 pandemic exposure periods, a total of 6462 and 10,003 patients consulted the AHHC medical service, respectively. Of these, 5335 (82.6%) and 7423 (74.2%) patients had fever and common cold symptoms, respectively, during the control and COVID-19 pandemic exposure periods (P < 0.001). The corresponding median (interquartile range) ages were 8 (3-11) and 10 (4-33) years, respectively. The distribution of disease severity differed between the groups. The proportions of patients with mild, moderate, and severe illness were 71.1, 28.7, and 0.2% in the control period and 42.3, 56.7, and 0.9% in the COVID-19 pandemic exposure period, respectively (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the proportion of patients with fever or common cold symptoms was lower than that in the control period, but disease severity was significantly higher.