More lingering cough cases at year end as respiratory viruses hit high gear

 More people suffered from hard-to-kick coughs in Singapore in the last few months of 2023, as respiratory viruses hit high gear. 

- Judith Tan

General practitioners (GPs) The Straits Times spoke to said that while it is common for people to have a cough at the end of the year, largely due to the colder and wetter weather, they saw upticks in the number of patients battling lingering coughs and returning to their clinics repeatedly.

Dr Dana Elliott Srither, founder of telemedicine platform Rexmed.io and a GP with over 20 years’ experience, said: “While we do not know what the specific viral causes are because we do not routinely test like how we did for Covid-19, we are certain it is a top symptom of the nasty mix of common cold, influenza and even Covid-19.”

He said that in the three months from August to October 2023, his clinic saw 326 cases of cough and 345 cases of runny nose. From November 2023 to January so far, the figures have gone up to 553 and 531, respectively.

At Singapore’s 25 polyclinics, the number of cases of acute respiratory infections went up during the year end.

According to Ministry of Health data for the week ending Dec 2, there was an average of 2,970 cases of acute respiratory infections seen a day at the polyclinics. This number went up to an average of 3,590 cases daily a week later.

Dr Sewa Duu Wen, who heads the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine at Singapore General Hospital, said the year-end damp weather can create favourable conditions for virus survival.

“(The) moisture in the air may enhance virus viability and airborne transmission, potentially contributing to the persistence of respiratory infections during the rainy season.