Can a dry cough be a sign of novel coronavirus pneumonia?
Dec 29, 2022
Source: Cainiu Health
Dr. Jiang Weimin
Introduction
Dry cough symptoms are not necessarily caused by infection with the novel coronavirus pneumonia. Many diseases can cause dry cough, such as the common cold, acute pharyngitis, acute tracheobronchitis, and pulmonary infections. Dry cough may also be observed in chronic or subacute cough conditions, including post-infectious cough, cough variant asthma, allergic cough, and eosinophilic bronchitis.
Novel coronavirus pneumonia is currently a prevalent disease that can spread through various channels. Some patients do not know much about this illness—could a dry cough be a sign of novel coronavirus pneumonia?
Could a Dry Cough Be Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia?
A dry cough does not necessarily indicate infection with novel coronavirus pneumonia. Many conditions can cause a dry cough, including the common cold, acute pharyngitis, acute tracheobronchitis, and lung infections. Dry coughs are also seen in chronic or subacute coughs such as post-infectious cough, cough-variant asthma, variant cough, and eosinophilic bronchitis, which may present with dry cough without sputum production. Therefore, a dry cough is not necessarily caused by novel coronavirus pneumonia.
Indeed, infection with novel coronavirus pneumonia can cause a dry cough. The most common symptoms include fever, fatigue, and upper respiratory tract symptoms such as sore throat, headache, body aches, cough, sputum production, nasal congestion, or runny nose. Gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, as well as reduced or lost sense of smell or taste, may also occur with novel coronavirus pneumonia infection.
A dry cough alone does not necessarily mean infection with novel coronavirus pneumonia. To determine whether it is due to this disease, further nucleic acid testing is required, using samples collected from nasopharyngeal swabs, sputum, feces, or urine for detection of the novel coronavirus. We hope this answer has been helpful to you. Wishing you good health and happiness!
