This is a chokepoint, for real. People are literally choking from all the coughing and sneezing, but it\u2019s not COVID-19 or the flu. It\u2019s the crud.<\/p>\n
The crud started making the rounds in the KIRO Newsradio newsroom the second week of January. I picked it up around January 14. Sore throat. Medium cough. Fatigue. The typical cold kinda stuff. Over-the-counter meds worked for a while. I took a day off from work and slept for 17 hours. I thought I had kicked it. Three weeks later, and I still have one of the deepest and driest coughs of my life. It hit my family, too.<\/p>\n
I wrote the previous paragraph on February 2.<\/p>\n
This cold and a deep cough lasted until March, and there is still coughing, sniffling, and sore throats from others in the newsroom.<\/p>\n
I know I am not alone in this. I went to a walk-in clinic a month ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going around,\u201d the doctor said.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s not COVID-19. Not the flu. I tested. Not pneumonia, though the doctor asked if I wanted a chest X-ray. When I asked how long this deep cough could last, he said maybe a few more weeks.<\/p>\n
He was right. A total of seven weeks for me.<\/p>\n
University of Washington doctor explains mysterious crud<\/p>\n
I asked Dr. Ralph Tayyar from the University of Washington about the crud.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been hearing a lot about this everlasting crud, but what people call the crud is usually not a specific illness,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a group of common respiratory viruses.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are more than 200 common cold viruses out there. They usually last a week to 10 days, but Tayyar said they irritate the linings of our noses, our throats, and our lungs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think what people are really feeling from that lasting effect is not the virus by itself, the virus and viral infection lasts only for a week, but the inflammation in the airways is what lasts much longer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The viruses can stack on top of each other, and the inflammation lingers.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou finish one virus, and then you get another virus on top, so it feels kind of everlasting,\u201d Tayyar said.<\/p>\n
Two months. That\u2019s how long the crud can last, and the common cold viruses might stick around until April or May this year.<\/p>\n
You can treat it with over-the-counter medication and rest.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wash your hands frequently and avoid touching your face, and if you\u2019re sick, stay home,\u201d Tayyar said.<\/p>\n
I asked Tayyar when you should start worrying that it might be something else, like flu, COVID-19, or pneumonia.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople should seek medical attention if they take on a higher fever, have shortness of breath or chest pains, or when they get worse after getting better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The fever is the key. That\u2019s the trigger to get in to see someone.<\/p>\n
Tayyar said the cold doesn\u2019t appear to be any worse than normal this year. It\u2019s just annoying and will go away with time.<\/p>\n
And let me apologize to everyone in the newsroom. I had this for seven weeks and only took one day off. I likely made everyone else sick.<\/p>\n
Chris Sullivan is a traffic reporter for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories\u00a0here<\/a>.\u00a0Follow KIRO Newsradio traffic on\u00a0X<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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