Question: is there any cure for the common cold and if no how long roughly will it take for a cure?

Pete Etchells answered on 23 Apr 2012:

Great question, thanks ells8! There currently is no cure for the common cold, mainly because it’s not just one ‘thing’ (in other words, a single virus) – there are over 200 different types of virus that are linked to it. That makes it extremely difficult to vaccinate against, as different virus combinations will need to be treated in different ways. I don’t really know too much about this, but I suspect that a cure for the common cold, even if it is possible, is a long time off.

That doesn’t mean that you can’t reduce your chances of getting a cold, though! Washing your hands thoroughly regularly, especially after going to the toilet and before handling food, is a very effective way of avoiding lots of types of cold and other infections. Eating foods that have got lots of zinc in them (like sesame seeds) is thought to help too.