How the common cold will save us [s]

[Kate]

This may have been a short story or part of a longer book. In the book, the cure for the common cold is discovered, goes through the FDA approval very quickly because it is cheap, it is easy, and what could go wrong? The inventor is hailed as a national hero. An interesting side effect is a better sense of smell. Good-- cops don't need bloodhounds anymore; they can track criminals themselves. Hooray!
(view spoiler)[However, after a few weeks, the sense of smell becomes overpowering. Morning breath is no longer a small whiff, but something requiring gas masks. BO causes sexual interactions to be abruptly terminated. Stale coffee closes offices as toxic. The hero inventor's name is mud (the really stinky kind). And so research dollars are now spent on ways to mitigate this horrific side effect. (hide spoiler)]

Double spoiler: (view spoiler)[The inventor notices that his dog has a cold, and works are creating a version that humans can get. Hooray! (hide spoiler)]

[Andy]

This has some resemblance to Spider Robinson's Telempath, but doesn't quite fit. It sounds familiar though, so I'll keep looking

[Ann aka Iftcan]

Wow--interesting idea. And it really DOES sound like Spider's story. Wonder which was first. . .(And, btw Kate, if you haven't read Spider's story, you definitely should.) OH--and the book started out as a short story, so it's possible that that is what you read.

[Empress]

I don't know bit the first part of the question sounds like Feed. I realize it is not that book though, but I am wondering if it can be the prequel story or some of the other stories?

http://www.goodreads.com/series/47749...
I would check countdown.

[mdt]

Looks like it's The Coffin Cure by Alan E Nourse.

[Andy]

mdt wrote: "Looks like it's The Coffin Cure by Alan E Nourse."

Which is available at Gutenberg here http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24276/...

[Kate]

I checked my library for Telempath -- they no longer have a copy there, so I'm going to purchase it for kindle. I'll let you know!

[Kate]

The Coffin Cure is it!

To find it in print: Tiger by the Tail