One thing that worries me is if we 'exterminate the common cold' will we then preferentially encourage the evolution of something worse? e.g. if the existing Rhinoviruses are somewhat symbiotic, that is, they cause sickness in the host to spread themselves, but they are an annoyance, not life threatening in most cases.
Now if we have a vaccine for those, do those relatively benign viruses evolve to bypass the vaccine, but in doing so pick up more dangerous mutations in that process?
Now if we have a vaccine for those, do those relatively benign viruses evolve to bypass the vaccine, but in doing so pick up more dangerous mutations in that process?