Arctic Blast Behind Surge In Colds And Flu
(CBS) -- Are you sneezing and coughing? If so, you're not alone.
It's cold and flu season. But as CBS 2's Vince Gerasole reports, something isn't quite the same this time around.
Cups of tea offer some comfort, as a winter cold has circulated in the Zanetti house for the past two weeks.
"It's been pretty bad. My little girl got a cold and then she passed it along to me," Monica Zanetti, a Roscoe Village resident, says.
In the cold and flu aisle at pharmacies, folks are looking for over-the-counter relief for their symptoms.
With below-freezing temperatures gripping Chicago, cold season is upon us. But Dr. Jordan Pritikan, an ear, nose and throat specialist, says something is different in 2016.
"This year, we are seeing more of an uptick in that cold-air, dry-air related cough just because the cold crept up on people so quickly," he says.
Dr. Pritikan suggests we put humidifiers to use to deter painful coughing. Remember standard precautions, he says.
"We are told to cough into the bent elbow. There's a tendency to cough into your hand and then you touch something. You touch a doorknob, you shake hands with someone," he says.
