Why are so many New Yorkers coughing? What's happening, and how to treat a lingering cough

David Robinson, New York State Team
·4 min read

Have a cough that just won't quit? You're not the only one.Some doctors are seeing upticks in New Yorkers battling lingering coughs as a top symptom of the nasty mix of common cold, influenza and COVID-19 strains spreading.

The rise in unusually tough-to-kick coughs comes as respiratory virus season hits high gear, with health officials recently calling on hospitals to reinstate mask mandates for workers and visitors.

But not all coughs are created equal, experts said, and New Yorkers should be mindful of key factors, such as the severity and duration of coughs, when considering medical care.

“Your lungs are trying to tell you something with that cough,” said Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, an American Lung Association expert.

“Don’t dismiss a cough,” he added, noting the myriad list of causes could range from a tumor growing in the airway to simple acid reflux.

Why is everyone in New York coughing?

A main reason is that patients’ cough reflex is enhanced for a month or more even from the simplest common cold, said Dr. Peter Dicpinigaitis, director of Montefiore Cough Center in New York City.

But flu strains in particular this winter have proven virulent, including in causing coughs, as they compete with COVID-19 and both viruses send thousands of New Yorkers to hospitals.

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Flu cases nearly quadrupled in New York during December, peaking at more than 31,000 in one week, and appeared headed towards peaks that rivaled last year’s historically bad flu season.

Monroe County and Westchester County had about 4,500 and 7,600 flu cases, respectively, so far this season, the latest data through December show.

Symptoms of the now dominant COVID-19 variants, led by JN.1, are also more likely to include lingering bronchitis-like coughs than variants earlier in the pandemic, which more often caused more severe short-term coughs, Galiatsatos noted.

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In an effort to shut down homegrown meth labs in which people converted oral decongestants containing pseudoephedrine into methamphetamine, Congress in 2005 passed the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act.
In an effort to shut down homegrown meth labs in which people converted oral decongestants containing pseudoephedrine into methamphetamine, Congress in 2005 passed the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act.

How to treat a lingering cough

Timing is crucial when determining how to treat coughs, which generally fall into three categories. They are:

  • Acute cough: Lasts less than three weeks. Mostly caused by common cold and generally self-resolves without medical intervention, typically within four to seven days for most people.

  • Sub-acute cough: Lasts three to eight weeks. Can lead patients to seek medical care because it disrupts sleep, work, and social life.

  • Chronic cough: Lasts more than eight weeks. Requires medical visit to determine if underlying causes unrelated to a viral infection are causing cough.

Treatments for acute and sub-acute coughs can include over-the-counter cough suppressants, home remedies like using steam, humidifiers, honey, and other methods to loosen phlegm. Patients should also be aware of the latest updates on some decongestant drugs' effectiveness, or lack thereof.

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How to treat a chronic cough

Post-infection coughs can span months, depending on the virus strain, but seeking medical care at the eight-week mark is crucial to identify other causes.

The three main chronic cough causes are: Post-nasal drip; asthma and asthma-like conditions; and gastroesophageal reflux disease, or acid-reflux disease.

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Doctors approach it by not suppressing the cough by medication but rather “treating the underlying cause and have the cough go away,” Dicpinigaitis said.

Still, another form of illness called chronic refractory cough doesn’t respond to treatment. It involves cough nerves that are hypersensitive to triggers that don’t make others cough, such as air temperature changes, perfumes, detergents, laughing, singing, or even talking.

Some of these patients can cough every single day for decades, Dicpinigaitis said, noting they are socially isolated and not going to restaurants or concerts for fear of having a coughing attack.

Are current viruses causing longer coughs?

Each cough-and-cold season differs, and some prior years had upticks in lingering coughs like the current wave, doctors said.

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But this season, in some ways, feels different as many New Yorkers navigate a post-pandemic world with a renewed hypervigilance of illness.

Put differently, Galiatsatos said: “Coughing in public is like the new smoking in public.”

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Why are so many in NY coughing? What's happening, and how to treat it