system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Why do we stop being contagious after a certain number of days with a common cold?

I've read that the rhinovirus takes 5 - 7 days for it to be non-contagious after symptoms first appear. If this is true, why? Has the immune system simply knocked the virus on the head? Why do we still have symptoms but stop being contagious?
gpt
Most every symptom of a cold is your immune system's response to it, not the virus itself. The virus quietly takes over throat cells and turns them into factories to reproduce more of itself. The first response of your immune system is to try and stave off the virus while it can search for an antibody.

A fever can turn up your body temperature and retard the activity of the virus, the infected cells being less tolerant of the higher temperature. A sore throat is caused by certain immune system cells depositing acid on to the infected cells to physically destroy them.

Once an antibody is found and the virus is stopped, you are still experiencing the effects of your immune system for some time.