Recently my whole house was sick with the common cold. It is a viral infection of the upper respiratory tract.
i have been lucky this year, so far not common cold for me or family
I hate how it irritates your throat and sinuses! It's terrible
i hate the sinusse part the most
Me too. And the coughing, sore throat, runny nose and headache! 
how long do the common cold last, a few days?
Seven to ten days
i did not realize it last that long
may develop pneumonia.
Well over 200 virus strains are implicated in causing the common cold, with rhinoviruses being the most common. They spread through the air during close contact with infected people or indirectly through contact with objects in the environment, followed by transfer to the mouth or nose. Risk factors include going to child care facilities, not sleeping well, and psychological stress. The symptoms are mostly due to the body's immune response to the infection rather than to tissue destruction by the viruses themselves. In contrast, those
Upper respiratory tract infection
An upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) is an illness caused by an acute infection, which involves the upper respiratory tract, including the nose, sinuses, pharynx, or larynx. This commonly includes nasal obstruction, sore throat, tonsillitis, pharyngitis, laryngitis, sinusitis, otitis media, and the common cold. Most infections are viral in nature, and in other instances, the cause is bacterial. URTIs can also be fungal or helminthic in origin, but these are far less common.