This winter, the wave of colds seems to be particularly persistent. The cough and other discomfort persist? There are reasons. And there are countermeasures.
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First report from January 21, 2023: Berlin – The cough stops, the a cold just don’t want to go away again. A problem that many people are dealing with this winter in Deutschland mess around. But the wave of colds is also particularly stubborn beyond our own national borders. Because the British are also struggling with one infection after the next.
“The current circulating respiratory infections appear to be lasting longer than usual,” Kamila Hawthorne told the Daily Mail. The professor of general medicine from Royal College of General Practitioners in London, a German general practitioner can only agree. But what is this extreme persistence like? epidemic to explain?
Coughs, infections, colds: particularly persistent this winter – what are the reasons for this?
“The coughing attacks and the recovery time from infections last much longer,” says Thomas Aßmann. The family doctor would have observed this development in his own practice. Experts have been assuming for a long time that after the long period of the corona pandemic, the body with contact restrictions and mask protection confronted with well-known pathogens for the first time in a long time. These would overwhelm him. But there are more reasons:
Viruses are constantly changing. We see that in the flu or in Sars-CoV-2. Harmless cold viruses also mutate. For the body, this means that it is now confronted with cold viruses, which have changed significantly since before the pandemic.
And that’s why people would now be confronted with one infection after the other. Professor Hawthorne points this out. So if you feel ill all the time, you can sometimes attribute this to the fact that you have been infected with several infections and different viruses one after the other.
More than 200 viruses can cause colds
To classify: In addition to Covid-19 and the rampant flu, there are more than 200 viruses that can trigger colds. The following viruses are the most common:
- Rhinoviruses (about 40 percent)
- the Respiratorische Synzytial-Virus (RSV; ten to 15 percent)
- other corona viruses (ten percent)
“Viruses are all different, and getting over one disease doesn’t mean you’re immune to another virus,” Hawthorne said. Accordingly, it is very likely that not just one infection can be assumed, but many different ones that affect the body one after the other.
What you can do against a cold – tips from your family doctor
The question of all questions: Can something be done against the stubborn cold? “The most important thing is protection. Become more of a couch potato until you feel fit again. Of course you are allowed to exercise, but leave the sport alone for the time being,” advises family doctor Aßmann. Then In general, exercise can even prevent long-term diseases.
Basically, he recommends drinking a lot, eating a healthy and sufficient diet, drinking sage tea or sucking on sage candy. After all, sage would not only have an anti-inflammatory effect, but also an antibacterial effect. “If you then take vitamin C or multivitamin tablets, you’re not doing anything wrong,” says Aßmann. Important: Since most respiratory infections are due to viruses, antibiotics should not be taken. After all, they don’t work.