The severity of the schoolteacher’s condition would have come as a surprise to the researchers in the early 1960s who discovered 229E. That’s because they were looking for the viruses responsible for the common cold. By the mid-20th century, scientists had worked out techniques to isolate some viruses, but their research left many strains unaccounted for—about 35% of people with colds had viruses that scientists weren’t able to identify.

在20世纪60年代早期发现了229E的研究人员会对这位教师病情的严重性感到惊讶。那是因为他们在寻找导致普通感冒的病毒。到20世纪中期，科学家们已经找到了分离一些病毒的技术，但他们的研究留下了许多种类不明的病毒——大约35%的感冒患者携带着科学家们无法识别的病毒