Self-defined in these pages as a “textbook hypochondriac”, it is not unusual for radio operator Jordi Basté to appear uneasy on the air due to an annoying and constant cough. It is exceptional, however, that a significant part of his team manifests the same symptoms, as does a fraction of the audience. These are cases of irritative cough, which are abundant at this time of year and are reaching medical consultations. The causes can be multiple, according to specialists, and the persistence of coughing spells can cause severe discomfort.
According to the Department of Health, the proliferation of cough outbreaks is not exceptional for this time of year, in which there is a strong circulation of allergens – especially parietaria –, the consequences of typical winter viruses and, in this season, an accelerated increase in whooping cough cases. Jordi Mestres, member of the Catalan Society of Family and Community Medicine (Camfic), also mentions the climatic factor: the lack of rain can contribute to loading the environment, or the past episode of Saharan dust.
“We are seeing cases in consultations, as always, less so in the Covid years, but at the moment it is not something that is alarming,” says Mestres. Some clinical guidelines indicate that eight weeks should pass before going to the doctor to treat irritative cough in the absence of other symptoms. This doctor understands that you do not have to wait that long, that you have to go to the health center after two or three weeks even if there are no warning symptoms such as a feeling of suffocation, fever, expectoration of blood or weight loss.
Ultimately, continued coughing irritates the pharyngeal mucosa and trachea, and the problem lasts longer, although it usually disappears spontaneously in about three weeks. It affects both children and adults, it is a very annoying condition and causes the patient to not be able to rest well. “If there are no other symptoms, a lot of patience and common sense”, Mestres recipe: “You have to take comfort measures to soften the throat, such as making decongestant vapors, taking infusions that are not excessively hot because excess temperature can contribute to irritation, humidify the environment, hydrate or sleep on your side to rest better.”
In some cases, codeine syrups are recommended to reduce irritative cough attacks, subject to medical prescription. As they may present contraindications and side effects, it is important not to self-medicate, specialists warn.
Coughing is a defense mechanism of the body to cleanse the trachea and larynx of particles. It is a symptom, explains Mestres, and “it can have, not dozens, but hundreds of causes.” Respiratory viruses, flu, whooping cough, sinusitis, allergies… Given this multiplicity, it is necessary to personalize the diagnosis, indicates the doctor. For example, if there is suspicion of whooping cough, it is diagnosed by PCR. In the first three months of the year, 7,230 cases of whooping cough were detected in Catalonia, but only 60% were confirmed microbiologically.
Botanist Jordina Belmonte, who does not have allergies, points to the flowering of certain trees as the cause of her irritative cough problems. You don’t have to be allergic for it to affect you. “At this time I have found myself recording videos in places where there are poplars and my voice cannot come out, with throat problems. This irritation can cause a lot of coughing, a strong cough that feels like you have to choke,” she says.
According to Belmonte, professor at the UAB and coordinator of the Aerobiological Network of Catalonia, for a few weeks now the fruits of plane trees – abundant trees in the city of Barcelona – have been falling and disintegrating. The wind picks up soil particles and spreads them. Depending on the amount of fruit they have produced, the problems they cause will be greater or lesser. To avoid them, Belmonte suggests sweeping the roads well or pruning the trees before their fruits fall.
It is also the time when poplars spread their tiny seeds and characteristic white fluff, causing respiratory discomfort in people who do not have allergies. “If I had to be in a place with a lot of bananas or poplars, I would put up a physical barrier: a mask, a handkerchief to protect the respiratory tract. “When you’ve already got irritation, a balsamic candy always helps you not have so much cough.”
