Did you catch the Queen's cold?
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At 90, stoic Queen Elizabeth II has rarely taken a sick day in the 64 years and 11 months she has ruled Great Britain, but a particularly brutal cold this past holiday season has had her laid up for more than two weeks.
She was finally seen in public on Sunday — the first time since before Christmas — when she attended a church service near her country estate. Her husband, Prince Philip, 95, was also struck down with the virus, characterized by a hacking cough.
According to experts, the bug believed to be causing the illness is a so-called adenovirus, rarer than the more garden-variety rhinovirus. The complex adenovirus, which has 30 genes compared to the nine found in a rhinovirus, often brings symptoms akin to those of bronchitis, which can last for weeks.
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It seems that, like the queen, New Yorkers are not immune to the infection. Dr. Sonali Bose, a pulmonologist at the Mount Sinai National Jewish Respiratory Institute, regularly treats such serious upper-respiratory conditions.
“It’s important to remember the characteristics of the host [that] make them especially vulnerable, such as being younger, older or having a disease like asthma,” she says.
A prolonged cough is a common complaint for sufferers, and it can last up to two months after the virus has left the body because of the damage caused to the respiratory tract.
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“The virus might be gone, but the mucus that has accumulated stays and triggers the cough,” Bose says.
In winter, she recommends a combination of rest and indoor activity to get the secretions mobilized.
“Good nutrition is also key,” she adds. “There’s a lot to be said for the old prescription of chicken soup and staying out of the cold.”
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