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With the cold and wind that has descended on the Raccoon Valley Radio listening area, many people have come down with the flu, RSV or Covid.

But Guthrie and Audubon County Public Health Director Jotham Arber says that cases of another, more common illness have been on the rise as well. Arber notes colds are a viral infection belonging to the same family as Covid, but have been observed and treated for a longer period of time. Arber mentions that while it’s best to get checked out by a doctor if you’ve got the flu, RSV or Covid, the cold usually isn’t as serious.

“Just having the cold doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to go to the doctor or seek medical treatment. But if you have that fever or you start to have a cough that you just can’t control with over the counter medications, you start to feel really bad, dizzy, any of those kind of things, it might be time to get some treatment. But, you can absolutely have a cold for a few days, and your body is pretty good at fighting those things off, as long as your body is healthy.”

Arber mentions that colds usually don’t cause a fever, but have many of the same symptoms as other respiratory illnesses, like congestion and a cough.