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Having a cold without a fever is perfectly normal
Last reviewed: 05.07.2025
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Despite the fact that the art of healing has long become medicine, that is, a system of scientific knowledge and practical methods for determining and treating human diseases, we still call a viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory tract by the common word "cold". And a cold without fever also refers to viral diseases. In this case, of all the organs of the upper respiratory tract, the nose and throat are affected first.
Causes of a cold without fever: a virus is to blame
Without going into the medical jungle, we can say that of the two hundred strains of viruses involved in the occurrence of colds, the most active are rhinoviruses from the picornavirus family. When rhinoviruses enter the human body, they multiply in the cells of the mucous membrane of the nasopharynx, which leads to inflammatory diseases of the upper respiratory tract - nasopharyngitis, rhinopharyngitis, acute rhinitis or, as we say, a cold. Why does this happen most often in the cold season? Because some of the viruses that cause colds are seasonal. But the reason for their seasonality has not yet been clarified...
In addition, experts have two more versions on this matter. Some believe that the causes of colds, including the causes of colds without fever, are purely physiological. Under the influence of cold air, the blood supply to the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract changes, this leads to a reduction in the production of mucus, and at this moment the viruses that have entered the respiratory tract begin to multiply intensively.
According to the second point of view, the human body experiences stress in the cold, to which the immune system responds by reducing its protective functions. And a cold without fever (if we adhere to this version) is an indicator of strong immunity, which fights off the infection without the participation of the hypothalamus, which is responsible for the thermoregulation of our body and "gives the command" to begin producing protective antibodies.
However, many studies have been conducted that give grounds to assert that the increased susceptibility of the body to infection during hypothermia is nothing more than a myth...
Since a cold is caused by a virus, it can be contagious. The most common way of transmitting the infection is through airborne droplets, as well as direct contact when a person touches the source of the infection.
Cold symptoms without fever
On average, the incubation period of a cold without fever does not exceed two to three days. From unpleasant sensations in the nose and throat, it goes on to sneezing and a runny nose. According to doctors, up to 40% of those who have a cold feel a sore throat, about 60% of people complain of a cough, the presence of a runny nose reaches almost 100%, but the temperature in adult patients, as a rule, remains within the normal range.
At first, the main symptom of a cold without fever is copious watery discharge from the nose. After a day or two, it becomes thicker and acquires a mucopurulent character. A cough joins the runny nose - initially dry, and then with a small amount of sputum.
In the absence of bacterial complications (such as sinusitis or otitis), cold symptoms without fever disappear in 5-7 days. However, the cough can last much longer (up to two weeks) and often leads to bronchitis, laryngitis or tracheitis.
A cold during pregnancy without fever (when it is caused by rhinovirus) has similar symptoms. The same symptoms accompany a cold in a child without fever, but most often the body temperature of children still rises, especially in very young children. Their body is still developing, so the reaction of the immune system is heightened. For this reason, any cough, as a physiological function of clearing the respiratory tract, requires finding out the cause - so as not to miss the same pharyngitis, laryngitis or bronchitis.
In most cases, the diagnosis of a cold without fever is made on the basis of the clinical manifestations of the disease and does not present any difficulties.
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Treatment of colds without fever
Symptoms and treatment of the common cold were described as early as the 16th century BC - in the medical papyrus Ebers "Book of the Preparation of Medicines for All Parts of the Body". But there is still no cure for the common cold, and we treat - or rather, alleviate - only its symptoms.
It is important to remember that antibiotics should not be taken for colds, as they do not work on the viruses that cause this disease.
Treatment of colds without fever is recommended to be carried out using folk remedies that have been tested by many generations, which are now called alternative methods. So, when the first cold symptoms appear, you need to make a hot foot bath (with the addition of dry mustard) or rub your feet with vodka or turpentine ointment and put on warm socks. In the treatment of colds during pregnancy without fever, the use of thermal procedures is strictly prohibited: you can only wear a warm scarf on your neck and woolen socks on your feet.
But tea with lemon and honey, as well as ginger, is useful for absolutely everyone. In case of a sore throat and cough, inhalations with infusions of pine buds, sage, eucalyptus leaves, a solution of baking soda, mineral alkaline water like Borjomi help well. It is better to do them twice a day - in the morning (an hour before leaving the house) and in the evening - an hour and a half before bedtime.
Warm drinks have a positive effect on cough relief – rosehip decoction, thyme, lemon balm, coltsfoot leaves, elecampane roots, as well as warm milk mixed with alkaline mineral water, and warm milk with honey and butter at night. Keep in mind that hot milk will slow down the secretion of phlegm. You need to drink slowly, in small sips.
When treating a sore throat and a cold without fever, you can't do without gargling. There are a great many recipes, but the most effective are considered to be: a solution of salt + soda + iodine, chamomile or sage infusion, as well as solutions of natural apple cider vinegar (a tablespoon per 150 ml of water), furacilin and hydrogen peroxide (1-2 teaspoons per glass of water). You need to gargle as often as possible - at least 5-6 times a day.
Irritation and sore throat are often the result of a strong cough, and as a result, coughing fits occur more often. Regular gargling with a warm solution of table salt helps to get rid of this problem: 0.5 teaspoon per 200 ml of water.
A sore throat can be relieved by taking a mixture made from 100 g of natural honey and the juice of one lemon. This natural medicine should be taken two teaspoons several times a day. And home-made drops will help cure a runny nose - fresh carrot juice with honey, raw beet juice: 5-6 drops in each nostril 4 times a day. You can apply a little "Zvezdochka" balm to the bridge of your nose several times a day and do a point massage in the area of the wings of the nose and at the highest point of the nose - between the eyebrows.
Since the treatment of a cold during pregnancy without fever maximally excludes the use of pharmaceuticals and involves symptomatic therapy with folk remedies, all the above methods are completely safe for expectant mothers.
Medicines for the treatment of colds without fever
In the medical treatment of colds without fever, drugs for cough, runny nose and sore throat are used. Classic mixtures are considered good expectorants - marshmallow syrup and pertussin. Pertussin is a combination drug of plant origin (it is based on thyme extract), it has an expectorant effect, helps to thin sputum and accelerates its removal. Adults need to take the mixture one tablespoon three times a day, children - a teaspoon or dessert spoon.
Tusuprex and Mucaltin tablets are also considered classics in the treatment of cold cough. Tusuprex has an antitussive and weak expectorant effect. The daily dose for adults is one tablet (0.02 g) 3-4 times a day, for children under one year - a quarter of a tablet, and over one year - half a tablet 3-4 times a day. Possible side effect - digestive disorders. This drug is contraindicated in bronchospastic conditions (narrowing of the bronchial lumen) and bronchitis with difficulty expectorating sputum.
Mucaltin acts as a sputum thinner and expectorant due to the content of marshmallow extract. Adults should take 1 tablet 4 times a day, children from one to three years old - 0.5 tablet 3-4 times a day (you can dissolve the tablet in 70-80 ml of warm water). Contraindications to mucaltin include hypersensitivity to the components of the drug, as well as gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer.
In case of a severe dry cough during a cold without fever, the doctor may prescribe medications that block the cough reflex - glaucine and oxeladin. Glaucine is available in the form of pills, syrup (including syrup for children) and tablets, and is prescribed to adults - 40 mg 2-3 times a day, children under 4 years old - 10 mg 2-3 times a day (after meals). The drug is contraindicated in severe arterial hypotension and myocardial infarction. Possible side effects are expressed in the form of dizziness, weakness and nausea.
Bromhexine, lazolvan, ambroxol, acetylcysteine (ACC) are used to thin and facilitate expectoration of sputum. For example, the drug bromhexine (tablets, dragees, drops, syrup) is taken by adults and children over 14 years old at 8-16 mg 3-4 times a day. The dosage for children under 2 years old is 2 mg 3 times a day, aged 2 to 6 years - 4 mg, aged 6-10 years - 6-8 mg three times a day. The duration of administration is no more than 4-5 days. Contraindications to this drug include hypersensitivity, peptic ulcer in the acute stage, pregnancy (especially the first trimester) and breastfeeding.
Among the cough medicines that doctors most often prescribe for the treatment of colds without fever in children are the syrups Gedelix, Prospan, Tussamag, Travisil and Eukabal.
Treatment of colds without fever involves getting rid of a runny nose. Trusted drops for a runny nose are naphthyzinum, sanorin, galazolin. And in the treatment of rhinitis in children, drops are nazivin (for babies from birth to one year), Nazol Baby (for children over one year old), xymelin (0.05% - for children 2-12 years old and 0.1% - for children from 12 years old). For sore throats, drugs with a local anesthetic effect in the form of aerosols are used - ingalipt, cameton, camphomen. Also in pharmacies there are many different dragees, lozenges, candies and lozenges that help relieve inflammation of the throat.
But paracetamol for a cold without fever is obviously not worth taking. Since the pharmacological action of this drug is analgesic and antipyretic, and it is used for: pain of weak and moderate intensity (headache and toothache, migraine, back pain, arthralgia, myalgia, neuralgia), fever syndrome (i.e. elevated temperature) in colds.
Contraindications to the use of paracetamol include hypersensitivity, impaired renal and hepatic function, alcoholism, and children under 6 years of age. The list of side effects includes blood diseases such as agranulocytosis, thrombocytopenia, and anemia; renal colic, aseptic pyuria (pus in the urine when it is sterile), glomerulonephritis (inflammation of the kidneys with circulatory disorders in them), and allergic skin rashes.
Paracetamol first entered the pharmaceutical market in the early 1950s in the United States. Its manufacturer (Sterling-Winthrop) attracted customers by declaring that paracetamol was safer than aspirin... According to official medical statistics, in the United States, the use of paracetamol (Panadol) is the most common cause of liver damage - more than 55 thousand cases annually.