'Missing Link' of Common Cold: Rhinovirus C Shows why there's No Cure

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found via a constructed three-dimensional model of a pathogen that there is no cure for the common cold.

According to lead study author, UW-Madison biochemistry Professor Ann Palmenberg, a meticulous topographical model of the capsid or protein shell shows that the cold virus has, until 2006, been relatively unknown to science.  

Background information from the study notes that the Rhinovirus C is believed to be responsible for a majority of all childhood colds as well as more serious complication factors for respiratory conditions, such as asthma. Researchers even believe that the recently discovered virus is responsible for millions of illnesses yearly with an estimated annual cost of more than $40 billion in the United States alone.

"The question we sought to answer was how is it different and what can we do about it? We found it is indeed quite different," Palmenberg said, via a press release, noting that the new structure "explains most of the previous failures of drug trials against rhinovirus."

As viruses from the A and B families can be easily studied in a lab, Rhinovirus C resists culturing. Only through advanced gene sequencing did it reveal that the virus had been lurking in human cells along with the other strains.

As all three strains work together, researchers predict that a c-specific drug will have to be added to previous medications or made to combat more serious colds via antiviral medications.

This drugs work by attaching to and modifying surface features of a virus.

More information regarding the study can be found via the journal Virology.