Common Cold

[thejoefro]

What is some history about the common cold?

[Golem]

I once applied to go as a volunteer to the Common Cold Research Unit hidden away in Wiltshire. In my naivety I thought they would keep you in a cold room and give you cold showers to see if you would catch a cold. When the paperwork arrived you had to agree to possibly being given test drugs to cure/produce cold symptoms. I didn't go. The research unit is often linked to Porton Down, where the MOD did (do?) testing of questionable drugs, gases etc, most notoriously Sarin in the 1950's. The MOD deny the connection and give a history of the Common Cold Unit here;

http://www.mod.uk/issues/portondownvolunteers/ccu.htm

[RevShirls]

You can read about the common cold and its history on Wikipedia (the history part of the cold is at section 6 further down on the webpage):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_cold