Under the weather? Here's what could be the reason - News 5 Cleveland WEWS
CLEVELAND — If you've been feeling under the weather and you can't put your finger on what it is, you're not alone.
"It was unusual for me," said Patricia Walton. "Just experiencing a little coughing, sneezing. A little scratchy throat."
Walton initially thought she had contracted COVID-19.
But, Walton said that she later ruled it out and blamed her sickness on last week's poor air quality conditions.
"I think it was the air because it just came out of nowhere at the time when the smoke was out," she said.
Meanwhile, others like Johnathan Rhoades tell News 5 he's been feeling fine.
But he says he has noticed something is going around.
"It's weird because it's summer, and I know some people that have been like my girlfriend, with headaches and stuff," he said.
Doctors at University Hospitals say there are a lot of factors, including several circulating viruses, that could be impacting people's health.
One of them, Dr. Amy Edwards explains, is called parainfluenza.
"It's the virus that causes croup. I know a lot of people are complaining of like, 'Boy, my throat is so sore, but my streps are negative, having a lot of coughing,' but it's not influenza or pneumonia," said Edwards, who is a Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital.
Typically, Edwards says this virus is contracted in the fall.
"There's nothing weird about the virus that's in circulation or viruses," said Edwards. "It's the timing. July is not respiratory virus season."
Edwards believes we're seeing more cases of parainfluenza during this time due to the pandemic.
"Since Covid's been around, a lot of these viruses have been misbehaving," said Edwards. "They've been circulating at the wrong times."
Edwards says parainfluenza isn't causing hospitals to be filled. Still, she encourages everyone to wash their hands, stay home or wear a mask if they have to go out.
"I think people have to remember that we're not going to return to life as it was before 2020 because we now have a new virus in our mix: Covid," said Edwards. "I just wish people would continue to be a little bit more careful."
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