Colds, viruses etc...

Not all symptoms are the body trying to beat the virus.

What would happen is a bit tricky to narrow down due to variations in viruses. Basically though they attack individual cells, reproduce themselves with their new DNA. This allows them to attack healthy cells more easily. The more cells they take over the sicker you’ll become.

The cells they attack in a sense can’t do the job they are meant  do. So, if left to run riot they’ll kill of organs.

Thanks Drac.

So in my case, it seemed to start in the back of the nose/sinuses. So is that where the virus 'landed' after being breathed in. And they basically just start eating the inside of my schnozz. So if not dealt with would the inside of my face just kind of rot away?

what would happen if the body just ignored it?

Invasion of the Cell Snatchers

Not quite that simple no as depends on the virus. I think mucus membranes are an easy target and breeding ground though.

I’m really struggling here as it’s nearly 30 years since I did anything along these lines as in-depth learning.

I have no medical qualifications at all but I've a suspicion that maybe the body has a mechanism that decides how hard the immune system is going to attack an infection. If it's serious, it goes flat out, asap. If it's not serious, and the body is stressed for other reasons, it backs off. Hence you can have a minor cold that doesn't go away, because the virus is doing some mischief and not being eliminated; until you have a holiday, when the body decides now is the chance to clear out that bug, and you get the immune response, which is briefly worse than the virus.

A bit like accepting a minor leak in the roof until you get dry weather and can afford to strip the roof to fix it.

So is that where the virus ‘landed’ after being breathed in. And they basically just start eating the inside of my schnozz. So if not dealt with would the inside of my face just kind of rot away?

If you couldn't mount an immune response, the virus would most likely spread via the bloodstream to major organs and cause severe disease. Viral replication kills the host cell. It wouldn't just stay in the same spot and rot you there.

There is a severe genetic condition called SCID where babies are born without a functioning immune system, and it is generally fatal within a couple of years, because, in a normal environment, you are constantly coming into contact with pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, fungi etc.

Luckily, for the vast majority of us, our immune systems are set up specifically to respond promptly to the first signs of viral infection in the lining of our noses and throats.

Hence you can have a minor cold that doesn’t go away, because the virus is doing some mischief and not being eliminated; until you have a holiday, when the body decides now is the chance to clear out that bug, and you get the immune response, which is briefly worse than the virus.

There are hundreds of completely different conditions that we call 'the common cold'  which is why theres no 'cure for the common cold' because that would in fact be hundreds of cures. The only thing they really have in common is our immune system deals with them in an broadly the same way so the experience of being ill (temperature, coughs and sniffles rather than pustules, lockjaw or the screaming abdabs) is broadly similar too-  having relatively mild symptoms in one instance and severe symptoms in another is likely to be two entirely different viruses rather than any difference in your circumstances.