--- title: Why Don’t We Have a Cure for the Common Cold? description: Even though the common cold is the primary reason American adults miss work and kids miss school, there's still no cure. Here's why canonical: https://time.com/3935266/why-dont-we-have-a-cure-for-the-common-cold/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-25T11:23:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T08:31:23.639Z article:section: Health og:title: Why Don’t We Have a Cure for the Common Cold? og:description: Even though the common cold is the primary reason American adults miss work and kids miss school, there's still no cure. Here's why og:url: https://time.com/3935266/why-dont-we-have-a-cure-for-the-common-cold/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Don’t We Have a Cure for the Common Cold? twitter:description: Even though the common cold is the primary reason American adults miss work and kids miss school, there's still no cure. Here's why twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Why Don't We Have a Cure for the Common Cold? by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jun 25, 2015 11:23 AM UTC by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jun 25, 2015 11:23 AM UTC 1 TOO MANY VIRUSES What we know to be the common cold is actually hundreds of strains of viruses, many falling within the large family called a rhinovirus. In a typical year, there are three to four flu strains to look out for, but there can be 20 to 30 strains of rhinoviruses circulating. $40 BILLION AMOUNT THE COLD COSTS THE U.S. ECONOMY, WHICH IS MORE THAN THE COST OF HEART FAILURE 2 HARD TO VACCINATE AND TREAT We’re usually protected from viruses through vaccination, but it’s nearly impossible to develop an annual vaccine for cold-causing viruses because there are too many and they change often. Rhinoviruses fall under three categories: A, B and C. While there is research in drug development for types A and B, research for C viruses is further behind. 3 LACK OF INCENTIVE Compared with those of other infectious diseases, the symptoms of the common cold are rather benign, and a cold is rarely fatal. The runny nose and sore throat we experience are actually side effects from our immune system’s attack on the virus to make us better. Why Don’t We Have a Cure for the Common Cold? ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3935266/why-dont-we-have-a-cure-for-the-common-cold/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3935266/why-dont-we-have-a-cure-for-the-common-cold/"},"headline":"Why Don't We Have a Cure for the Common Cold?","datePublished":"2015-06-25T11:23:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:31:23.639Z","description":"Even though the common cold is the primary reason American adults miss work and kids miss school, there's still no cure. Here's why","url":"https://time.com/3935266/why-dont-we-have-a-cure-for-the-common-cold/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3935266/why-dont-we-have-a-cure-for-the-common-cold/","name":"Why Don't We Have a Cure for the Common Cold?"}}]}] ```