Hope in battle against colds
SCIENTISTS have made a fresh breakthrough in their quest for a cure for the common cold.
Researchers at York, Leeds and Helsinki universities have been studying causes of the world’s commonest ailment.
They claim to have found a “code” in a virus responsible for the common cold, polio and hand, foot and mouth disease – a rash affecting humans,
Details of the decoding appear identical in all strains of the virus, potentially allowing a single drug to treat them all.
The team is now working to screen for potential antiviral drugs and believes a cure could be found within a decade.
Professor Peter Stockley of Leeds University said: “The coding works like the cogwheels in a Swiss watch. We now need a drug that has the same effect as pouring sand into the watch; every part of the viral mechanism could be disabled.”