Taxonomy of Rhinoviruses — a History

Abstract

It is well recognized that the most important known aetiological agents of the ‘common cold’ in adults are the rhinoviruses which are associated with 15–40% of such illnesses [7,11,23]. These viruses are also implicated as important causes of acute respiratory illnesses in paediatric populations [3,9]. The course of scientific inquiry leading to the discovery of the major known causes of the common cold was indeed tortuous, with numerous erroneous suppositions regarding the aetiology of this condition [1,10,43]. For example, it was thought: that: (i) chilling and not infection caused the illness; (ii) nasal discharge (coryza) was caused by a secretion from the brain, which passed through perforations in the skull on its way to the nose; (iii) nasal discharge consisted of serum that could not be released through the skin because of the constriction of the pores during cold weather; and (iv) bacteria were the major cause of this malady because they could be recovered readily from the nose and throat during illness.