Why is it so hard to cure the common cold?

Dig into the two main ways we fight the viruses that cause the common cold, and find out if it’s possible to create a cure.

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On average, adults catch more than 150 colds throughout their lives. Even with similar symptoms, the cause could be different each time. Common colds are caused by at least 8 different families of virus, each of which can have its own subtypes. How can so many different viruses cause the same illness? And is a cure even possible? Explore the two main strategies we employ to fight viruses.

Directed by Anton Bogaty.

This video made possible in collaboration with Gates Ventures

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Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Jose Arcadio Valdes Franco, Sebastiaan Vleugels, Karl Laius, JY Kang, Abhishek Goel, Heidi Stolt, Nicole Sund, Karlee Finch, Mario Mejia, Denise A Pitts, Doug Henry, Keven Webb, Mihai Sandu, Deepak Iyer, Javid Gozalov, Kyanta Yap, Rebecca Reineke, William Biersdorf, Patricia Alves Panagides, Yvette Mocete, Cyrus Garay, Samuel Barbas, LadyGeek, Marin Kovachev, Penelope Misquitta, Hans Peng, Gaurav Mathur, Erik Biemans, Tony, Michelle, Katie and Josh Pedretti, Hoai Nam Tran, Kack-Kyun Kim, Michael Braun-Boghos, zjweele13, Anna-Pitschna Kunz, Edla Paniguel, Thomas Mungavan, Jaron Blackburn, Venkat Venkatakrishnan, ReuniteKorea, Aaron Henson, Rohan Gupta, Begum Tutuncu, Brian Richards, Jørgen Østerpart, Tyron Jung, Carsten Tobehn, Katie Dean, Ezgi Yersu, Gerald Onyango and alessandra tasso.

[nataliesnowden]

As a college student who’s got a cold right now, I appreciate this

[lilian-zzks]

As a cold who's got a high school student right now, I appreciate this

[theuxae]

Let's all appreciate the animators for such a good animation.

[isomnegi]

90% viewers are watching with fever and cold

[drcarolinedimond]

As a retired health director, I can't stress enough how important it is to get outside and expose yourself to these minor bugs. A long time without exposure could create an infection that is more severe, since they have had enough time to replicate and mutate.

[kineshashekhar]

I'm watching this because I have a cold right now XD. Ted ed always uploads at the right time.

[sarahannabell]

I have a cold. I'm so frustrated then I get a notification that this video is up! Thank you!!

[Pabloinjuanderland]

As a teacher who's got the cold right now, this was educational.

[Felix-vehs]

Visualizing the human immune cells as timy PAC mens made my day :D

[agnieszkacz_]

I would love a video explaining CRISPR more!! The part peaked my interest a lot it’s something I’ve not heard much about before :)

[lukeallan]

As a high school who has a cold student I really appreciate this.

[yourgodfather]

I didn’t know that a video about cold would be this interesting! Thanks for explaining it with such animations. 😊

[nisharoka]

I am suffering so badly from cold and I haven’t been able to smile since like seven days, but seeing the animation it actually made me smile. Thank you so much

[_.nastou._]

I LOVE this style of animation, I felt like watching a cartoon from my childhood 🥲❤️

[joeschianodicola]

watching this now, currently with the common cold. this is enthralling stuff

[xiuyi]

I love that I remember this animation style from an older teded video

[offbrandbread]

this is SUCH a good video!! not only is it clear and educational the animation and colours are AMAZING hats off to you ted-ed’s team you did great <33

[rishidixit]

As a human right now who's got common cold I appreciate this

[NovaRuner]

According to your explanation that there many viruses that causes the cold, and the symptoms are mostly a immune response….. it almost seems as if that “the common cold” is an ecological niche that viruses can fill.

So hypothetically if we did one day eliminate the rhino virus and all it’s strains… would some other species just evolve to be more dominant in that niche?

[skival]

Don't forget, there are risks and side effects to any drug you introduce to your body. You have to weigh the risk of the drug vs no drug or a different drug. Something might kill your cold but also your kidneys, for example.