Rhinovirus

Rhinovirus is the most common virus in humans, and the main cause of the common cold. It is called 'rhinovirus' because it infects the nose.[1] The symptoms are very well known, and affect the whole of the upper respiratory tract, that is, the nose down to the throat. Children may get six to twelve colds a year.[2]

Rhinovirus
Isosurface of a human rhinovirus, showing protein spikes
Rhinovirus
Scientific classification
Groups included
  • Rhinovirus A
  • Rhinovirus B
  • Rhinovirus C
Cladistically included but traditionally excluded taxa
  • Enterovirus A
  • Enterovirus B
  • Enterovirus C
  • Enterovirus D
  • Enterovirus E
  • Enterovirus F
  • Enterovirus G
  • Enterovirus H
  • Enterovirus I
  • Enterovirus J
  • Enterovirus K
  • Enterovirus L

The temperature most suitable for its survival is between 33 ℃ to 35 ℃. This may explain why it is found in the nose, because the nasal cavity is be open to the outside air.[3]

There are 99 types of rhinovirus, according to their surface proteins. The rhinovirus particles are only 30nm in diameter. This is much smaller than other viruses: many are ten times larger.

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rhinoviruses.
  1. "rhino-" from the Greek for "nose"
  2. Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "rhinovirus". Encyclopedia Britannica, Invalid Date, https://www.britannica.com/science/rhinovirus. Accessed 25 December 2021.
  3. Ellen F. Foxmana et al 2014. Temperature-dependent innate defense against the common cold virus limits viral replication at warm temperature in mouse airway cells. PNAS ID 112 (3): 827–832.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.