common cold
Let an agent explain the common cold and its causes in general terms from public health sources, describe symptoms, spread and self-care, distinguish colds from influenza, COVID-19 and allergies, and route worsening or prolonged illness to clinicians.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Help When to seek care.
Warning
Warning signs.
Warning
Warning.
- Which signs, such as breathing difficulty, high fever, chest pain or symptoms in infants and vulnerable people, need medical care? action
- Is the user describing such signs, which need a clinician or emergency services? boundary
Self-care
Self-care.
Self-care
Self-care.
- What self-care do health services advise for a cold? action
- Is the user asking about their own or a child illness beyond general advice, which needs a clinician? boundary
Understand The illness.
Causes
Causes and spread.
Causes
Causes.
- What viruses cause colds, and how do they spread? definition
- Is the question about a cold, influenza, COVID-19 or allergies? boundary
Course
Symptoms and course.
Course
Course.
- What symptoms occur, how long do they last, and what are prolonged colds? definition
- Which entry fits the specific virus? action
Prevent Prevention and treatment.
Prevention
Prevention.
Prevention
Prevention.
- How do hand hygiene and other measures reduce colds, with evidence attributed? provenance
- Which references are standard? provenance
Treatment
Treatment and remedies.
Treatment
Treatment.
- What does evidence say about cold remedies, zinc, vitamin C and antibiotics, with findings attributed? provenance
- Which sources are cited? provenance
Context Research and history.
Research
Research.
Research
Research.
- Why is there no cold vaccine, and what research continues? provenance
- Which entry fits rhinovirus research? action
History
History.
History
History.
- How was the cold studied, including the Common Cold Unit in Salisbury? provenance
- Which entry fits the history of virology? action
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Cross-cutting context
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- XCT
- Domain
- XCT.QLT
- Other names and narrower kinds
- prolonged colds, metapneumovirus infection
What it is Filled
A mild, self-limiting viral infection of the nose and throat caused by more than 200 viruses, most often rhinoviruses and also coronaviruses, adenoviruses, respiratory syncytial virus and human metapneumovirus, causing runny nose, sore throat, cough and sneezing for about a week, sometimes as prolonged colds lasting longer; the common cold is the most frequent human infectious disease, spreads by droplets and contact, has no cure or vaccine, and is managed with rest and symptom relief.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent explain the common cold and its causes in general terms from public health sources, describe symptoms, spread and self-care, distinguish colds from influenza, COVID-19 and allergies, and route worsening or prolonged illness to clinicians.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Many viruses
- Mild and self-limiting
- Most common infection
- No cure or vaccine
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Diagnose a specific person's illness as a cold or rule out something more serious.
- Recommend antibiotics for a cold or suggest a person obtain them without a prescription.
- Promote unproven remedies or supplements as a cure or prevention.
- Advise giving cough and cold medicines to young children against the guidance on their labels.
Only with a human decision
- Any decision about treatment for an infant, an older person or someone with a chronic illness who has cold symptoms.
May
- Explain what a cold is, how it spreads and how long it usually lasts, citing health authorities.
- Describe general self-care and hygiene measures that public health bodies recommend.
- List warning signs that health services say mean a person should seek medical care.
Moral aspects Filled
- Misuse of antibiotics for colds feeds antimicrobial resistance that harms everyone.
- A cold dismissed as trivial can hide a serious illness in vulnerable people.
Who is affected
- People with symptoms
- Infants and older people
- The wider public
Owners Filled
Steward
Nobody owns the illness; public health authorities set guidance and clinicians answer for individual care.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q111527211 - registry parent class
- Q18975569 - registry parent class
- Q3936113 - registry parent class
- Q55790495 - registry parent class
related
- viral rhinitis - in registry terms
- nasopharyngitis - in registry terms
- Picornaviridae infectious disease - in registry terms, for rhinovirus colds
- influenza - which is more severe
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.common-cold
- Wikidata: Q12125 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12125)
- ICD-11: CA00 acute nasopharyngitis
- MeSH: D003139 common cold
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
- adult colds per year: about 2-3 count
- duration: about 7-10 days
- causative viruses: over 200 count
Plane XCT: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- Mild viral upper respiratory infection
- Rhinovirus, coronavirus, adenovirus, RSV and metapneumovirus colds; prolonged colds
- Influenza is more severe with fever and aches; allergic rhinitis is not infectious; sinusitis may follow a cold
- Not a visible object; a runny nose and sneezing.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- explain causes and spread
- relay symptoms and self-care
- distinguish from flu and allergies
- route worsening illness
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Unnecessary antibiotics
- Missing more serious illness
- Agents giving personal medical advice
- Unproven remedies
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- Public health guidance on respiratory infections
- Antibiotic stewardship guidance
- Regulation of over-the-counter cold remedies
Context of use required Filled
- Not applicable; a disease.
- rhinovirus colds
- coronavirus colds from seasonal coronaviruses
- adenovirus, RSV and metapneumovirus infections presenting as colds
- prolonged colds
- colds in children and older adults
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q12125: common cold - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Common cold - general description of the item
Open questions
- Should rhinovirus and metapneumovirus be separate primary entries?
- How should public health guidance be linked?
- The registry entry has merged aliases naming another virus infection; should it be split off?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q12125/spec.json