Actually, the common cold is caused by any of over 200 different viruses from multiple families. The reason there isn’t a cure is because any cure would either involve a broad spectrum treatment that works against all 200+ viruses or it would involve identifying the specific causal agent and having a specific cure for each of over 200 different ones. Either would be extremely expensive. Nobody’s going to pay $30,000 to cure or prevent a cold.
And yes you can treat a viral infection. We have antiviral drugs for all sorts of viral infections. They typically work either by inhibiting viral replication or some other critical viral function. And the overall effect is the same as using antibiotics for a bacterial infection: you reduce the ability of the pathogen to operate in the body until the body can clear the infection. Antibiotics don’t magically make all the bacteria disappear; they reduce the infection to a point that the body can overwhelm it.
As a retired teacher I found the first 10 years of teaching I generally used up about half my sick day (5). The last 22 years...well, I accumulated over185 sick days. Think I must have come in contact with almost all the variant s of the common cold
I’m not educated to your level, so appreciate your insights. I’ve always understood that bacterial infections can be treated (to an extent) to attack the bacteria itself whereas viruses are not directly attacked but fought off over time by the body. Antivirals help to prevent replication or the ability for the virus to attach to certain cells, but the body still has to fight it off naturally.
Regardless, a pill isn’t going to be a magic bullet. There’s too much disinformation out in the ether right now. Basic biology, stuff that was taught as a freshman in high school in many cases, is being butchered. Anyone who paid attention in high school, a stretch nowadays, would know that this vaccine doesn’t make you immune, it helps your body fight it off. Immunity happens AFTER your body fights it off, not because of it.