From the series: The eternal sniffling
Cold symptoms can be caused by other viruses besides corona, rhinoviruses or flu. For example the adenovirus. What makes this pathogen so special.
Speaker Listen to article More than 100 different types of adenovirus are known to humans. © Fig.: Science Source/mauritius images
In this series we describe the six most important cold viruses and explain what makes them so special.
Who actually washes their hands as regularly and thoroughly as they did during the pandemic? Even if it only provides limited protection against the coronavirus because Sars-CoV-2 spreads primarily through the air, washing hands prevents many other infections very effectively. For example, infection with adenoviruses: They are often transmitted via so-called smear infections – i.e. when you touch your mouth, nose and eyes after shaking your hand with an infected person or touching an object that has viruses on the surface. About a week later you fall ill, often with a harmless cold, but not infrequently with vomiting and diarrhea. But conjunctivitis in the eye also occurs, as well as – much less commonly – serious diseases such as meningitis.