What keeps cold germs alive and what do they live on?

Answer 1

Cold germs are viruses which are not alive like bacteria and some other germs are. Viruses are essentially a group of chemicals, proteins, and genetic materials that work together as an infectious organism. They can only function inside a host animal or plant and they use the materials and actions of the invaded cells of the host to replicate themselves. So the thing that keeps the cold viruses "alive" and provides the viruses with the materials they need to replicate, is the host.