cough is one of the key symptoms of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, because it is a mainly respiratory virus. In fact, it was one of the first to appear, thus alerting most of those infected that they could be infected.
It was also one of the mildest and least worrisome since manifested as a dry cough and disappeared after a few days in most cases.
However, it does pose a big problem in those cases where does not go away after a long period of timeas is the case of 2.5% of people who have suffered from the disease, who continue to cough a year after being infected.
This is what is known as “Covid persistent cough”a condition that, although it does not reverse severity, can make day-to-day life become a little hell since it can bother or reduce the ability to work or lead a normal life of those who suffer from it, or simply make those around believe that Covid is spreading.
Covid persistent cough: what causes it
As explained by the BBC, the explanation of why we have a cough during Covid is as simple as understanding that the body is defending itself against an external and unknown pathogen that threatens it. Being a respiratory virus, it affects our nostrils and our lungs and, therefore, the rest of the respiratory system.
Cough is neither more nor less than the way in which our body tries to defend itself and expel the virus, through the activation of a reflex that results in the form of cough. But what is the problem? May that cough remain even long after our body has eliminated the virus. That’s when we talk about persistent Covid cough.
Y, why do we drag it even after we have healed? Experts point to inflammation as the main cause and to the response that our system gives to it. There would be four possible explanations:
- If the upper airways are inflamed: the fluid that all inflamed tissue produces drips down the back of the throat causing “postnasal drip,” which makes you feel the need to cough or swallow to clear your throat.
- If it is the lungs or airways that are inflamed: coughing is the answer to try to remove fluid and swelling.
- Neural pathways may be where the inflammation is: the nervous system is involved, centrally (brain) or peripherally (nerves), and the cough is not coming from the respiratory tissues.
- Scarred lung tissue due to inflammation: condition called “interstitial lung disease,” which must be managed by respiratory specialists.
How to relieve a persistent cough
As BBC Mundo explains, if this cough occurs due to postnasal drip, measures to reduce it will be highly effective: sucking on pills, saline rinses, sprays, sleeping on your back, etc. It is also recommended to sip water, eat or drink honey to soothe or breathe slowly through the nose, as doing so warms and moistens the air hitting the back of the throat as it passes through the nasal cavities first.
If instead, the cough occurs due to inflammation of the lungscontrolled breathing exercises and steam inhalation can help.
Beware of antibioticssince in some countries they suggest that they could help treat Covid and the symptoms derived from it, such as this type of cough, however they are not appropriate, since they can contribute to the development of resistance by our body.
How long does a persistent cough last due to Covid?
According to experts, can last for weeks or even months and can be debilitating. Although it is also true that most ways to treat it and facilitate its management are simple, cheap and “can be done without the need for medical intervention”, as Natasha Yates, assistant professor of General Medicine at Bond University, assures.