Colds & cough

Abstract

The common cold leads to approximately 75 to 100 million physician visits annually. An estimated 22 to 189 million school days are missed annually due to a cold, which affects working parents with approximately 126 million workdays staying home to care for their children. Add this to the approximately 150 million workdays missed by employees suffering from a cold, which accounts for approximately 40% of time lost from work in the U.S., and you can see why the "common" cold is referred to as the most "common" human disease. Common colds are not a trivial health problem, as these statistics indicate, and that can be attributed to the fact that there simply is no cure for the common cold and the fact that it is highly contagious. However, the symptoms can be treated, and compounding pharmacists can work with the patient and the physician in this endeavor.