Do you often suffer from colds while other members of your household remain unaffected?
If so, medical experts have identified the reason why some people repeatedly catch colds while others stay protected.
A study published in the journal Cell Press Biology reported that the most common cause of colds is the rhinovirus, which enters the body through the nasal passages.
When the virus enters, disease-fighting cells in the nose become active immediately and trigger the antiviral defense system to prevent the virus from spreading.
According to the study, this antiviral defense system plays a key role in preventing frequent colds or reducing the severity of symptoms. In fact, the research found that the body’s response to the rhinovirus is often more important than the virus itself.
Researchers explained that there are multiple causes of the common cold, but the rhinovirus is the most common. In the study, a human nasal passage model was developed in a laboratory, and nasal stem cells were grown for four weeks.
Afterward, the rhinovirus was introduced, and the cellular response was examined. The study found that this process activates antiviral responses from multiple types of cells.
When this response detects the virus, it targets not only the virus but also nearby healthy cells to stop the spread. However, when this defense system is not activated, a person becomes ill repeatedly, in other words, experiences frequent colds.
According to researchers, when the virus faces no resistance, it begins replicating in both infected and healthy cells, increasing the risk of airway inflammation and breathing difficulties.
