There's a bad cough going around. We asked doctors what it is. | Mashable.
There's a bad cough going around. We asked doctors what it is.
A number of viruses are in strong circulation this cold, COVID, and flu season. Credit: eternalcreative / Getty Images |
This cold and flu season, the internet agrees on one thing – lots of us have a cough that won't go away.
British author Essie Fox posted on X (formerly Twitter), "Has anyone else had this cough that just won't go away and makes you feel wretched and exhausted?" It seems like "at least fifty percent of the people that you know have this hacking cough that has been going on for weeks," said TikToker Bethany Veach in one viral video.
While your cough amid this potent cold, COVID, and flu season might be nothing to worry about, a lingering cough can also be a sign of something more serious. Here's what you need to know about that cough you can’t kick.
What's causing my cough?
Unfortunately, it's hard to say for sure.
"I think that the biggest thing is that we're seeing multiple respiratory viruses," Danielle Sebbens, a pediatric nurse practitioner at Arizona State University, told Mashable. A year ago, a "tripledemic" of COVID-19, the flu, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) made headlines, and the three viruses are again circulating. And of course, the various viruses that cause the common cold are going around. All of these can cause a cough – and a number of them are different coronaviruses (that have infected humans for ages).
Out of the three well-known viruses circulating, RSV might be the most likely culprit behind your gross cough, said Dr. Janet O’Mahony, an internal medicine doctor in Baltimore at Mercy Personal Physicians. In an email to Mashable, she wrote that she saw many patients with a "junky cough" around Thanksgiving, when there were many cases of RSV in her area. Cases of the virus have since gone down near her, she said.
Regardless of what specifically caused it, a lingering cough with no other remaining symptoms is probably caused by some type of virus, said Sebbens. If the infection were bacterial, you would usually have other symptoms that linger, like fever and fatigue.
Why won't my cough go away?
Coughing when you’re sick (and in general) is a reflex to expel mucus, germs, and other sources of irritation from your lungs. Likely the most common reason for a persistent cough is lingering inflammation in your lungs and windpipe, even after the infection itself has cleared, Dr. Maureen Tierney, the chair and associate dean for clinical research and public health at Creighton University School of Medicine in Nebraska, told Mashable.
It’s also possible you managed to get multiple infections. Along with lowering your overall immunity, fighting a respiratory illness can damage tiny hair-like structures in your lungs called cilia, Tierney explained. These cilia help keep infections out of your body, so a respiratory infection might make you vulnerable to other viral and bacterial infections.
"It's not normal to have a cough that persists for more than three to four weeks."
A more serious cause of a persistent cough is developing a complication of respiratory illness, said Tierney, like pneumonia. For this and other reasons, she recommends that anyone who has had a cough for more than a few weeks seek medical care.
"It's not normal to have a cough that persists for more than three to four weeks," she said.
Why is this non-COVID illness happening now?
It might be that our immune systems are still recovering from years of extra protection during the COVID-19 pandemic. As some people leave masking and social distancing behind, their immune systems might have a hard time adjusting to the change.
"We didn't get the same immune system development that we get from year to year" during the pandemic, said Sebbens. "Our immune system is just not prepared for this influx of viruses."
Tierney thinks our immunity is up to speed, but is currently contending with a large number of viruses.
"I think that we pretty much caught up with immunity over the past two years," she said. Tierney attributes the ubiquitous cough and other symptoms to widespread circulation of many different viruses, something that the addition of COVID-19 can only increase.
How do I make the cough stop?
If it's been over three weeks, you should seek out medical care, or if you have symptoms like coughing up blood, cough so violently you throw up, or have other symptoms, like fever and fatigue that won’t go away. If it turns out you have a bacterial infection, your doctor might prescribe antibiotics.
You can also test yourself for COVID, and a medical professional can test you for the flu. Both viruses have effective antiviral treatments – Paxlovid for COVID-19, and Tamiflu for influenza (both these treatments must start relatively soon after symptoms begin). If your cough is caused by lingering inflammation, Tierney says your doctor might prescribe an inhaler, which can sometimes help.
"It’s not too late to get vaccinated."
Unfortunately, some viruses like COVID are just going to make you cough. O’Mahony recommends people use over-the-counter medication like Tylenol, Claritin, and Mucinex to treat their symptoms. There’s even some research to suggest that honey might help.
Though it won’t help you if you already have a cough, you can also get vaccinated. Many people haven’t yet gotten updated COVID and flu shots, and there is also a new RSV shot if you are 60 or older or have other risk factors for severe illness.
"It’s not too late to get vaccinated," said Tierney.
Topics COVID-19
Minha esposa teve isso durou um mes mas passou,isso por que nao deixei ela tomar todas as doses da v461na
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DeleteA bad cough….. I was down for over a month it went from a cough to a severe respiratory infection anti biopics and steroids and it’s still not completely gone.. and our whole town came down with it. And the village next to us it spread like wild fire…
ReplyDeletein the water, or droped from planes
Deleteno we’re not in America we’re in the uk 🇬🇧 Scotland 🏴 to be precise we’ve got the best water quality in the world through natural filtration and supply
Deletethe jabs destroy your immune system. The spike protein keeps replicating in different organs, unlike normal vaccines that are not mRNA. This garbage is deadly and so many people don't have a clue. 😔
DeletePeople who put face diapers on, hand sanitized like crazy, jabbed themselves and were anti social have no immune systems and a cold literally is hard for their immune systems to beat now. It's funny because I don't see a single person who didn't fall for the scamdemic sick at all.. And if they are they are not nearly as sick as the ones that were fooled.
ReplyDeleteHey EVERYONE! I found the person who drank the Kool aid
Deletewhat an insensitive thing to say when there are people who have loved ones who literally died from covid. Good God.
DeleteI got the vaccine because I was always out and about and didn’t want to give it to my grandparents. Guess what? I still have an amazing immune system and I don’t get sick. Calm down
Deletelol you seriously are a fool and prob need to go to school for some basic 101 education .
Deletejust dont
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DeleteTell me you are uneducated without telling me you are uneducated.
Deletewell that’s certainly one way of saying you don’t understand how your immune system works.
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ReplyDeleteIt's covid... The people are getting covid again
ReplyDeleteFor me it was covid
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Which country?
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lol well they “marketing tricked” me into having literal bronchitis and pneumonia so
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ReplyDeleteWe all know what it is but some still in denial covid jabs !!!!!
ReplyDeleteI've had the same junky cough and I haven't had any covid "jabs" (not by choice, I was pregnant before they were approved for pregnancy). So what's your excuse now?
Deletedisprove it idiot
Deleteidiot
Deleteyou are very sad person. You seem to be miserable angry and need some therapeutic help
Deleteliar
Deletehey dummy
DeleteGovernment officials have said that they’re purposely poisoning us and is trying to reduce the population
ReplyDeleteflu or cold most likely?
ReplyDeleteMaybe caused by the toxic chemicals they are releasing by air. Government to blame
ReplyDelete😵💫
ReplyDeleteThe jabs
ReplyDeleteyou are not a smart lady, are you?
Deleteif you got the jabs then no you are not 🤣🤣🤣 its now proven that they did nothing
Deleteyou are not a very smart boy, are you?
Deleteno you are not.
Deletelol at least you try, that's the main thing.
Deleteyea you did try have a gold star 🤣🤣🤣
Deletethanks mate! But now you embarrassing yourself! You have no idea what you are talking about! It's time to go play in your room the adults are talking.
DeleteI didn’t get vaccinated and I have this cough
Deletedo you believe in germ theory though? Have you been vaccinated in the past 3 years? Not just the covid jab any of them. If you still believe in viruses you’re gunna get sick lol
Deletedo you use toxic cleaning products? Take medications? Are you stressed?
Deleteyou’re the only unvaccinated person supposedly that has an issue. Everyone I know is fine lol
Deleteof course unvaccinated people aren’t immune to getting sick as we are all exposed but we tend to live less toxic lifestyles therefore we get sick less often and it doesn’t last long. 2-3 days is the longest I’ve ever been sick and I haven’t been jabbed since I was 13. In total I’ve only had 4 jabs in my life
Deletei gwt ot from moving and handling stock feeds, dry air
DeleteWho isn’t stressed lol
DeleteI don’t get any vaccinations.
Not since I was in seventh grade and I’m 50.
Haven’t had any of that crap.
No flu shot pneumonia shot Covid shot. Nothing I’m just sick. I just chalk it up to a common cold.
liar. Liar
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Bullsh.t
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ReplyDeletegot it just before Christmas and am finally over the cough
ReplyDelete@PSYCHEDELIC & 4:20 World USA.
DeleteLol, its called a cold. Been around for several years now.
ReplyDeleteAnd they said.. a cold
ReplyDeleteIt's called, your lungs have been destroyed by the thing they said would protect you. 💉
ReplyDeletewhy are all the dumbest people on planet commenting as if they were scientists in another life but unfortunately / fortunately for us in this life they are not
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ReplyDeleteImmunity debt - the idea that you quote from a " nurse practitioner" is a theory existing between non proven and nonsense. Canada is difficult to share news articles, but google it. The Guardian gives the example of Sweden - didn't lock down but struggling with rampant infection just like everywhere else. After a lifetime of exposure is it really logical to think a short time of abstinence tanked everyone's immune system?
ReplyDeleteOr is it more logical to realize that everyone running around unmasked and Coughing is spreading coughs?
If showing symptoms of a potentially contagious disease, WHY do people INSIST on sharing it with everyone who comes near them?
Wear a mask if you're coughing. FGS...
Cough for 5 weeks+ no fever
ReplyDelete@PSYCHEDELIC & 4:20 World USA.
DeleteLots of bronchitis going around too.
ReplyDelete@PSYCHEDELIC & 4:20 World USA.
DeleteReally? You ask doctors what it is? We all know is flu season. 🙄🐑💩
ReplyDeleteIt's covid...
ReplyDeletetripledemic" of COVID-19, the flu, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
ReplyDeleteHow many times is the same story going to be put up in the space of a week.....
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less cigarettes and eveything will be fine
ReplyDeleteI've smoked for years enver had a cough and hardly ever get ill try again let people do what they want in regards to smoking its our lives ffs
Deleteand for the people that don't smoke?
DeleteAnother government experiment on the people hoping to control and spread fear while aiming for the goal of population control
ReplyDeleteProbably is. Perhaps we all need to teach ourselves a bit about microbiology, immunology and virology, bit of biology and chemistry (if not already) and design and make a virus ourselves. We use the government as a petri dish and experiment on them as they have on us. 😂 Let them be the collateral damage for once.
DeleteThe new and improved Plandemic just in time for Election season
ReplyDeleteyou are aware that there were social media posts about what winter viruses were circulating even before we had COVID, right? Not every post (or probably any of them actually) about winter viruses are politically motivated.
Deletego back to your mask addiction lady and and slink away youre not educating anyone 🤣
DeleteSo you people don’t believe that naturally occurring viruses make you sick anymore? Every virus that goes around from now on is a big government plot?
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ReplyDeleteTheodore Raheem Natti
It's no joke....been coughing since Dec 22nd and it's just calming down😫
ReplyDeleteglad to hear that you continue to trend upwards.
DeleteEven here in Uganda everybody got a rough throat these days
ReplyDeleteDisease X
ReplyDeleteIt’s the original strain of Coronavirus from 1965! My daughter in law and granddaughter have been suffering for weeks, and were diagnosed as having pneumonia and bronchitis - but since my DIL is immune compromised, they finally did a very expensive 16 hr. Blood test that they won’t normally give patients, to figure out what it was . It was a virus from 1965 … OC43. How a virus that’s 59 years old has suddenly resurfaced is a whole other question
ReplyDeleteI tested. Mine was COVID.
ReplyDeleteHeard one physician described it as “the hundred day cough” and certainly seems fitting. People I know that had it before Christmas & still coughing.
ReplyDeleteKungflu plain and simple! Half the severity, twice length of the normal flu! Brought to you by Fauci in a lab, spread to the world by China on a plane! 👏
ReplyDeleteIt’s called a COLD they happen!
ReplyDeleteYour Mum does ...?!
DeleteIf she's in the same risk category as mine.
when you are about to confined to hospital
ReplyDeleteand you have covid symptoms
they will forced you to have a
covid test + quarantine
if you are negative
it just added useless bill to your bill
useless because of high probability that it is not covid
but if government
are really still concerned about covid
every hospital confinement
should have covid test
regardless if have symptoms or dont have it
🙁
👀
ReplyDeleteAre we still testing for Covid? Just curious
ReplyDeleteYou asked doctors what is is? 🤣. Is fully season. It has always been. 🐑
ReplyDeleteLong winded article to push the experiment and not give an answer...I want my 2 minutes of life back
ReplyDeleteCovid hoax 19
ReplyDeleteWho cares
ReplyDelete