--- 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. ```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?"}}]}] ```