Have you kicked a cold, bout of flu, RSV, or COVID recently—but can’t get rid of the cough? You’re not alone. The symptom can stick around for weeks after our bodies have cleared a virus.
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When we’re sick…inflammation jacks up the sensitivity of airway nerves, causing them to overreact, research suggests. One hypothesis is that stubborn post-infection coughs happen when nerves remain hypersensitive after the end of an illness.
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Now, scientists are linking this hypersensitivity to specific inflammatory chemicals and receptors on airway nerves. In 2016, scientists discovered that infection with a flu-like virus caused certain nerves in the airway to make extra copies of a receptor protein called TRPV1, which reacts to capsaicin and other stimuli. Other studies, many on either guinea pigs or lab-grown human cells, have likewise reported increased copies of TRPV1 and other receptors during respiratory virus infections.
One 2017 study showed that even when a virus was “killed” with UV light, it increased copies of TRPV1 and another receptor in lab-grown human cells.
