http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/tipsheet/archive/2008/10/04/beat-back-the-bugs.aspxBy Karen Springen October 13, 2008 Illustration: Michael Klein for Newsweek For families, fall marks the start of germ-fighting season. Kids catch an average of one to two colds per month during the school year; parents catch fewer but suffer just asenCommunityServer 2.1 SP2 (Debug Build: 2.18)http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/tipsheet/archive/2008/10/04/beat-back-the-bugs.aspx#691403Sun, 05 Oct 2008 15:32:40 GMT544c64cf-7058-4151-925a-a0fd041e73dd:691403ademeyer<p>I take Hall's Defense at the first sign of a cold, and it stops it in its tracks. I do believe zinc somehow shortens colds, because it as worked for me. On the other hand, I took echencia at the start of cold season, as a preventative, one year, and I came down with the worst cold of my life. &nbsp;I've since read that timing is the key with echenicia, but my experience turned me off it forever. Zinc, however, I do recommend.</p> Blog: TipSheet