If it's starting in the throat, I wonder whether zinc acetate lozenges might be an effective therapeutic - at least in the first couple of days.

After seeing some data showing that zinc acetate was twice as effective as the next most effective type of zinc (gluconate), I stocked up. I've fended off a couple of colds (which given your article may or may not have been colds) by using those lozenges as soon as I got a scratchy throat. I’ve been using 6–8 of these (linking as I had a hard time finding them) in the first day, plus a copper supplement (zinc and copper need to be at least somewhat in balance — I use an easier to find one from Jarrow).