What’s the Deal With This Cough Everyone in Michigan Seems to Have?

It was the Wednesday before Christmas, and we got an inevitable, but still dreaded call from the daycare that our little one had a fever and needed to be sent home.

Read Related: 11 Illnesses Making Their Way Through Michigan

Okay, no need to panic. It's a daycare, and kids are full of germs. Not to mention, it's cold and flu season.

Six days later, the little one is feeling better. But me? Somehow, she gave me her cough. I never got a fever, I didn't have Covid, and I didn't feel ill in any way except for this dang cough. And here we are... well into the New Year, and I still have this dang cough to contend with.

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Numerous swabs up the nose to double-check for COVID-19, all still negative. And I'm feeling fine and dandy, so what is this cough and why is it sticking around?

Turns out, I'm not the only one with a cough.

What's the Deal With This Cough Everyone Seems to Have Right Now?

HuffPost recently looked at what the heck is going on with this persistent cough that everyone seems to be having, and here's the long and short of it;

If it's not Covid and it's not the flu, you probably had a "viral upper respiratory infection" at some point, and that was enough to attack and irritate your systems. Thus, the cough has stuck around for an annoyingly long time, sometimes for weeks to months.

One doctor HuffPost spoke to said that

the persistent cough is most likely due to prolonged inflammation in the airways — even after the virus is gone, the body continues to produce mucus and have bronchospasms, which is when the muscles in the airways tighten and cause a cough.

So, if you've tested for COVID and flu and you know your cough isn't from that, the best thing you can do is contact your healthcare provider. But at the end of the day, they'll likely prescribe you some rest, keep up on your fluid intake, and maybe some over-the-counter meds.

Stay healthy out there, friends!