Doctors warn this season could bring ‘worst cold ever’
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — It’s a callous infection that comes with all the symptoms — coughing, runny nose and fatigue — times 10.
But, it’s not the coronavirus and it’s not the flu.
All over the world, doctors are seeing what would typically be a mild case of the cold escalate to one that rivals the other two potentially deadly viruses. They have coined it the “worst cold ever.”
News 8 spoke with Dr. Amy Beth Kressel, infectious disease specialist at Eskenazi Health, who speculates why the common cold may hit us extra hard this season.
“The normal cold viruses are not behaving normally,” Kressel said. ”We haven’t really experienced them during their normal time last year so we may have lost some immunity to them.”
The protocols put in place during the pandemic — social distancing, masking and meetup restrictions, all designed to stop the spread of COVID-19 — are loosening, Kressel adds. As the world gets closer to normalcy, it’s likely the germs that were absent during the coronavirus pandemic will come flooding back into the environment.
She also says that people who start experiencing cold-like symptoms should get tested for the coronavirus, given we are still in the middle of a pandemic.