Upper respiratory tract infection causes
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Upper respiratory infections, commonly referred to the acronym URI or URTI, is the illness caused by an acute infection which involves the upper respiratory tract: nose, sinuses, pharynx or larynx. In the United States, this represents approximately one billion acute upper respiratory illnesses annually.
Causes of upper respiratory tract infection
You can catch a cold if:
- A person with a cold sneezes, coughs, or blows their nose near you
- You touch your nose, eyes, or mouth after you have touched something contamined by the virus, such as a toy or doorknob.
People are most contagious for the first 2 to 3 days of a cold. A cold is usually not contagious after the first week.