AUBURN – One virus causes a hacking cough that lingers for weeks. The other sends people running for the bathroom.
And if you haven’t caught one – or both – yet, count yourself lucky.
They’re going around.
Local doctors have seen the viruses in both children and adults since December.
The first starts as a cold and ends in an annoying cough that can last three to six weeks. The second causes diarrhea and vomiting. It can last for days.
The viruses are “yucky” and “annoying,” but not generally life-threatening, according to Elisabeth Britton, a doctor at Family Health Care Associates in Auburn.
“There’s not a lot you can do about them. Antibiotics are not helpful. People want them to be, but they aren’t,” she said.
Family Health Care Associates has been fielding about 30 calls a day from patients who have one virus or the other. While colds and other illnesses are common during the winter, Britton said, “The thing that’s different is how long it’s lasting.”
She said the cough can last for three weeks and the stomach virus may go on for three or four days.
Paige Bernier, a nurse at the Court Street Family Practice in Auburn, has seen the viruses last even longer. Some of her patients have coughed for as long as six weeks. The stomach virus has stuck around for five days.
Bernier believes her practice gets about a dozen calls a day.
Doctors advise cold sufferers to get a lot of sleep, consider running a humidifier at night and talk to their doctor about medications that could ease symptoms. They can also try taking zinc or Vitamin C, home remedies that some people believe shorten symptoms.
“It never hurts to have a little extra Vitamin C. But don’t go overboard,” said Lydia Thorp, a doctor with the Central Maine Family Practice in Lewiston.
Patients should call their doctor if their cough lasts more than two weeks, if they have asthma that can be aggravated by a cough or if they spike a high fever or run a low fever that lingers for days, doctors said.
For patients with the stomach virus, doctors advise them to stay home, sleep and drink a lot of fluids, such as ginger ale. They said patients should call their doctor if they can’t keep fluids down or if they are sick for more than a few days.
For people who are healthy, they said, prevention is key.
“Wash your hands before you go anywhere,” Bernier said.
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