(WGN Radio/NEXSTAR) – It’s that season again when the flu and other respiratory viruses are spreading rapidly, leaving some people wondering why they just can’t kick that cough.
Dr. Konstantinos Papadopoulos, family medicine specialist at Northwestern Medicine Wheaton, spoke to WGN Radio’s Lisa Dent to explain why some people who test negative for COVID-19 are experiencing a lingering cough that could last for weeks.
If you have a persistent cough, Papadopoulos says that one of more than 200 viruses that can cause respiratory infections is likely the cause.
“One of the most common ones is rhinovirus, which we don’t necessarily test for during the upper respiratory infection,” Papadopoulos said.
Rhinoviruses are the most frequent cause of the common cold, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention experts estimate that an adult gets one a year on average, and a child two.
Papadopolous said it’s always important to get tested for COVID and influenza, depending on the timeframe of the symptoms and doctor recommendations, but warned that its hard to know how long a cough is going to stick around for after the other symptoms are gone.
“I mean, you can develop these post-viral coughs, bronchitis,” Papadopoulos said. “Sometimes it’s something as simple as post nasal drip, where you’re just congested and the dripping from your nose kind of irritates your throat makes you have this chronic cough. So it’s always important to follow up with your primary care doctor to get checked out especially if you have any wheezing, shortness of breath.”
He added that if you cough up blood, that’s definitely an emergency requiring immediate medical attention.
Patients reporting they’ve had it
Papadopoulos said he’s seeing of patients daily at Northwestern who are complaining about nagging coughs.
Everybody’s texting in saying “I’ve had it, I can’t get rid of it,” he told WGN Radio. “Somebody just said, ‘My 11-year-old daughter’s had it for four weeks and another said their doctor put them on prednisone after having the cough for months, it was lasting months.”
If there’s any good news, after a certain point you likely aren’t contagious.
Aside from some viruses that can embed themselves “for weeks,” Papadopoulus said that most people won’t be contagious after up to 10 days for the majority of viruses.
“It’s more likely the effect of lung inflammation that bronchitis, post nasal drip, throat irritation … it’s just having the doctor listen to your lungs to make sure you’re not missing a pneumonia of course, or an atypical pneumonia.”
Is there anything I can take to get better?
Barring a serious underlying medical condition, there are some medications that can at least help ease the discomfort.
Steroids may “significantly” improve the cough and shorten recovery time, but likely won’t resolve it, Papadopoulos said, adding that even over-the-counter medications can be helpful.
“Something as basic as Flonase, which is over-the-counter treatment, can definitely help with the post-nasal drip,” he said. “And then you know, making sure you’re not missing something more basic like acid reflux, or medications like lisinopril that’s an ACE inhibitor very commonly used for blood pressure that can cause a chronic cough.”
If the cough continues to worsen or comes with shortness of breath, chest pain or blood, you should go to the emergency room.
As for this year’s cases, Papadopoulos says case numbers are worse than last year’s.
“I’ve talked to some of my colleagues and we’re all seeing a significant uptick since last year with this lingering cough,” Papadopoulus said. “There’s more RSV this year as well. I’ve seen a bit more flu. COVID is always there, but it’s definitely seems to be a worse viral season.”
