During the season of acute respiratory viral infections, it seems that everyone around you: in transport, in shops, in offices and in cinemas, is sick, walking around and infecting others. Or is coughing not always an indicator of infection? Let’s find out.
How does the cough mechanism work during ARVI?
To understand that a cough is an indicator of a person’s infection, it is important to understand how it appears and develops. Let’s remember what happens in the body during ARVI? The temperature rises, the nose starts to run… At first, it flows freely from the nose, in the form of a liquid, then it begins to turn into a thick mucous substance.
We can remove this mucus from the body to the outside: by blowing our nose and/or rinsing our sinuses. But part of it remains inside and begins to flow along the back wall of the nasopharynx in the body, penetrating, among other things, into the respiratory tract.
Coughing is necessary precisely to clear the respiratory tract of the accumulation of mucus, as well as of particles and substances that can be formed during the development of the inflammatory process during ARVI. This is a type of defense mechanism, a reaction of the system to unwanted irritants and a way to clear the airways.
Is a cough still contagious?
While a person is in the active phase of an acute respiratory viral infection: they have high temperature and other pronounced symptoms – is, as a rule, a carrier and spreader of viruses. It expels them mainly with particles of mucus and saliva, which are projected into the air during an active cough.
However, there is always a cough that stops. This is a protective wet cough that allows the body to remove the remaining mucus during the period when the active phase of the disease has already ended. At this stage, the viral load is usually very low and such a cough is not considered contagious (subject, of course, to the necessary hygiene rules and precautions).
Why should a cough never be ignored?
When phlegm (mucus) begins to build up in the body, it can become an excellent environment for the reproduction of unwanted elements – both viruses and bacteria. This can affect the patient’s current outlook on the disease and feelings and cause a risk of complications or delay the recovery period.
Prompt treatment of a wet cough improves the well-being of the sick person, reduces the intensity of debilitating coughing attacks, the risk of unwanted complications, and even the potential viral load to others.
Remember that a cough is not scary, but it is better to treat it in time!
