Is Your Cough Due to ‘Long Cold’ or Long COVID? Doctors Explain
A new survey found that people can have lingering symptoms of a cold like they do with long COVID.
The data found that, while symptoms could be similar in both groups, people with long COVID were more likely to have more intense health complications.
Doctors stress that long COVID is different from so-called ‘long cold.’
Long COVID has been a concern for years, and many major medical centers have even created specialized practices to treat people who develop ongoing or new symptoms after having COVID-19. Now, new research finds COVID-19 may not be the only respiratory virus that causes lingering symptoms, spawning the phrase “long cold.”
A survey of more than 10,000 people published in The Lancet’s EClinicalMedicine journal analyzed data on symptoms survey participants experienced. Each participant was asked whether they had 16 different symptoms associated with long COVID, as well as whether they had a previous COVID-19 infection, another respiratory virus, or neither.
The researchers found that both people who had COVID-19 or another respiratory infection since May 2020 were more likely to have lingering symptoms than people who didn’t have either infection. While the symptoms varied, the researchers concluded that both COVID and non-COVID infections can cause a “wide range of symptoms” that last for more than four weeks after someone is initially sick.
Why might other respiratory illnesses cause lingering symptoms and what should you do if it happens to you? Infectious disease experts break it down.
What are the big symptoms of ‘long cold’?
The study found that both COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses could cause similar symptoms. Those included:
Fatigue
Cough
Shortness of breath
Dizziness
Trouble focusing
Memory issues
Gastrointestinal issues
Trouble sleeping
Difficulty with taste and smell
Hair loss
Sweating
Racing heart
However, symptoms around lack of taste and smell, dizziness, hair loss, unusual sweating, heart racing, and memory problems tended to be more common—and more severe—in people with long COVID.
Why might colds cause lingering symptoms, too?
It’s important to note that the study has limitations in terms of diversity—the participants were mostly female and white. But infectious disease doctors say the findings aren’t shocking.
“For most of us, a cold will resolve within a week or so,” says William Schaffner, M.D., an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “But there’s a proportion of people who will have lingering symptoms that will go on for a couple of weeks or more.”
Why? It’s likely due to inflammation that comes from having the initial infection, Dr. Schaffner says. “Once we get rid of the infection, it seems that the inflammatory response that the body musters to fight off the infection can continue to smolder for a while and cause symptoms beyond the acute infection.”
But it also depends on which virus is causing the infection, says Thomas Russo, M.D., professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York. “Each virus is a little unique, and COVID is very unique,” he says.
Dr. Russo notes that human metapneumovirus in particular can cause a nagging cough that lasts for weeks. “It’s not uncommon to see that with other viral maladies,” he says.
Underlying health conditions can also play a role in whether you develop lingering symptoms of a cold, says infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, M.D., senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. While colds usually last “a couple of days on average,” he points out that “some individuals with underlying conditions like asthma may have symptoms for a few days longer.”
Depending on which virus you get and your overall health, “there can be a constellation of lingering symptoms,” Dr. Russo says.
But Dr. Russo cautions against comparing “long cold” to long COVID. “It’s unfair to say that, because other viruses can cause prolonged symptoms, that long COVID is just like lingering symptoms from other viruses—they’re not the same,” he says. “The severity is different.”
Dr. Schaffner agrees. “It’s really quite clear that long COVID can be debilitating and interfere with your daily life,” he says. “That’s why long COVID clinics have been established in many medical centers, including my own.”
How to treat long cold
Doctors say there are a few things you can do if you’re struggling with lingering symptoms after having a cold:
Take it easy. “Don’t push yourself too hard,” Dr. Schaffner says. That may mean sleeping more than usual, if you’re able, and scaling back on your regular exercise routine.
Drink plenty of liquids. Staying hydrated can help your body operate at its optimal level, allowing it to better handle lingering symptoms, Dr. Schaffner says.
Move a little when you can. “Gentle exercise often helps restore your body to a more normal function and can accelerate healing,” Dr. Schaffner says. “Don’t try to do your personal best in terms of running a quarter mile fast or lifting heavy weights, but being somewhat active is better than constantly being in bed.”
When to see a doctor after having a cold
If you have a cold and you start to feel better in a few days, doctors say you’re just fine to move on with your life. But if you find that you start feeling lousy after your symptoms started to get better or you just aren’t feeling better at all, Dr. Adalja says it’s a good idea to check in with a medical professional, especially if it’s been a few weeks since you first got sick.
“If your cough suddenly starts to become productive, you have difficulty breathing, your fever starts to go up again, and you have pain in your chest…all of those would indicate that you may have pneumonia or some other complicating infection,” Dr. Schaffner says.
And, if you’re dealing with lingering symptoms from a cold and just aren’t feeling better, Dr. Schaffner says it doesn’t hurt to check in with your doctor about next steps.
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