Thread by @Telegraph

❓Have you been struck down by the 'worst cold ever'?

The pandemic meant 18 months without our usual exposure to germs…

🤒But an illness we would usually brush off is now back with a vengeance 🧵⬇️

telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness…

In recent weeks, many people have reported experiencing severe flu-like symptoms, which have led experts to dub the unpleasant bug a "super cold".

Anecdotally, it has become known on social media as "the worst cold ever"

🤒In the pre-pandemic world, colds weren’t something to be taken seriously; it was quite common to suffer through a day's work while blowing into a hanky or attend a meeting with streaming eyes

💼❌But anecdotally, simply getting through a day’s work with the super cold is near impossible...

A call-out on social media revealed a range of symptoms, from "sandpaper throat" to "utter fatigue".

🔴One individual responded to say she is on week five of the cold and has a cracked rib from all the coughing

It is normal for common colds, and other respiratory tract infections, to spread quickly in September when the schools go back and autumn arrives...

However, 18 months of Covid restrictions such as social distancing, mask-wearing and hand sanitising may have increased our susceptibility to the common cold

📉Prof Ronald Eccles, emeritus professor at Cardiff University, explains that months of lockdown have reduced our immunity to the viruses that cause common colds

🗣️"Normally, we are exposed to these viruses on a daily or weekly basis. But now we’re like athletes out of condition who haven’t trained for a year," he said

🔎Learn more about the symptoms being reported by people suffering from the "worst cold ever" here 👇

telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness…