PEORIA, Ill. – While viruses like COVID-19, RSV, and the flu have been on the way down so far this year, some lingering effects remain.
Effects like a nagging or near constant cough. It could be a six to eight week cough for some, 100 days for others.
“A lot of patients have displayed symptoms that would justify going on an antibiotic,” says Juanbosco Ayala, MD, pulmonologist with OSF HealthCare. “They get over the acute phase, experiencing symptoms like body aches, fever, chills and productive wet cough. With the antibiotic, in time, things seem to get better. Then after that acute phase, this lingering, nagging cough happens.”
Ayala says there are over-the-counter medications that can help, at least short-term.
“The antihistamines would be a great start,” said Ayala. “Some of the antihistamines have a little bit more of a sedative effect. So, patients will get sleepier on some of these medications. They all, to a certain degree, may cause (sleepiness) to a certain degree [sic], but some of them are less common – some of them like Claritin, Allegra, even Zyrtec.”
Ayala says coughing at night may be a greater concern, however, because that may be a sign something like asthma is developing.
He says that’s something where doctors may want to check for something else first like sleep apnea.
(Audio and some data for this story from OSF HealthCare.)
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