Anyone who has a cold blows their nose. Children are already taught how to use tissues. No wonder: after all, it is important to get the viruses out of the body quickly. Or maybe not?
Colds are in good company, especially in the fall, winter and spring weeks: that’s when viruses that affect the upper respiratory tract are in high season. According to estimates by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), around 5.3 million people are currently struggling with annoying symptoms such as cough, sore throat or fever – a value that is slightly above the usual numbers in the pre-pandemic years.
Cold viruses also attack the mucous membranes of the nose, which respond to the virus invasion by increasing secretion production. At first the secretion is usually watery, later often yellowish to greenish, but in any case: annoying.