Struggling to shift that winter cold?
With more and more people saying illnesses seem worse this year, LISA SALMON asks some experts what’s going on
WE EXPECT to get colds over the winter, but this season it seems many people are really struggling to get rid of their sniffles.
Ron Eccles, an emeritus biosciences professor at Cardiff University, and the former director of its Common Cold Centre, says winter is the most likely time of year to catch colds, as children return to school and nursery and viruses spread easily among them, and then their parents.
“There are also more colds in winter, and the wet weather has kept us indoors and the damp has helped viruses survive better,” says Prof Eccles. “There are complaints about never-ending colds, and this may be due to multiple infections, or us being more rundown and stressed at this time of year after festive excess.”
He points out that covid is still around, adding: “If you’re suffering from a stinking cold, it’s better to keep away from anyone who could be immunecompromised, as other cold viruses can also cause serious disease in the vulnerable elderly.”
Are colds getting worse?
Jeremy Brown, a professor of respiratory infection at
University College London, says there’s no clear data on whether any long-lasting viruses are currently circulating, as very little information is collected about the duration of infectious symptoms.
He notes some people’s symptoms could be caused by Covid.
“Covid is pretty indistinguishable from other respiratory viruses. It can make people feel pretty rotten – more so than standard cold viruses, but perhaps no more so than
flu.”
Has the pandemic played a part?
Prof Brown says it is possible that viral infections are worse or more prolonged after the pandemic. However: “There’s been what seems like a bounceback with frequency of infection with some respiratory viruses, although it’s always hard to be sure, as their incidence varies year to year anyway. This is not Covid impairing immunity, but lack of exposure to respiratory viruses weakening adaptive immunity to the viruses, so they can more readily infect when they’re circulating.”
GP Dr Alisha Esmail adds: “One theory about lingering cold symptoms is the ‘post-covid effect’, in that we had less exposure to classic winter viruses due to quarantining and isolating, so we’re catching up on rebuilding immune responses.
“Remember, viruses mutate and immune responses fade over time.
“Individual immunity has a huge number of factors – some within and some beyond our control.”
Could something else be going on?
Some people are reporting having a long-lasting cough, dubbed the ‘100-day cough’. This is thought to be whooping cough in some cases.
Prof Brown explains: “100-day cough is classic whooping cough – it’s a dry cough that goes on for three months, but not really with sore throat, runny nose etc.”
Dr Esmail explains that the most common cold viruses circulating are coronavirus, rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV, common in children), and parainfluenza.
“As far as we know, there are no new or particularly virulent viruses at play this winter, but all have different subtypes and can easily mutate, hence the possibility of catching them multiple times and in different ways.”
She says a typical cold usually lasts seven to 10 days, and severity of symptoms can depend on the virus, as well as the affected person’s individual immune response.
“Resting, keeping well-hydrated and using over-the-counter treatments could shorten its stay.”
But if symptoms persist beyond three weeks, worsen suddenly, or you have a high fever or breathing trouble, a GP visit is a smart move.