Teen COVID Patient Coughs Almost Constantly After Getting Sick Last Fall

A teen has been suffering with an almost continuous cough since becoming infected with COVID-19 last fall.

16-year-old Verena García from the municipality of Murcia in southeastern Spain has experienced persistent symptoms of the disease since being diagnosed in October 2020, including headaches, dizziness and joint inflammation, as well as the cough.

The coughs occur every few seconds, making it difficult for García to live her everyday life, which has changed radically.

"Since I was diagnosed with COVID on October 27, 2020, I started coughing and I have not stopped," García told the Spanish Europa Press news agency.

"My life has changed completely," the teen said. "I can't go to the movies, go out with my friends, go to eat... I have to spend the day at home. I can't go to class, I just go online. I can't do everything I would like to do."

Even tasks that were once simple for the teenager, such as speaking and eating, have now become a significant challenge due to the constant coughing.

"It takes me about three hours every day [to eat] because I have a hard time chewing with my cough," García told Spanish daily El Periódico. Swallowing is also difficult and the girl often ends up expelling the food.

The teen, who has been forced to study from home while her schoolmates return to in-person teaching, told the newspaper that work which once took her half an hour to complete now takes her more than three hours.

The coughing only seems to subside when García is drinking water or sleeping. But even then, the girl said the the coughs often cause her problems during the night.

"Many nights I wake up, I start coughing and it is impossible to go back to sleep," she told El Periódico.

The coughing has been so bad that it has even affected García's sight and hearing. Among other persistent symptoms, she has also been suffering from significant inflammation in her joints.

"I get up and sometimes I have a hand that looks like a balloon and after two or three days it has come down," García told Spanish broadcaster RTVE.

The coughing has also had a psychological impact on the teen, particularly when it comes to leaving her house, which she hardly does anymore.

"When you go out, people look at you, whisper, move away and that is not something that makes anyone feel good," she told RTVE.

García's family have taken the teen to different specialists in Madrid and other parts of Spain, however, none have been able to definitively explain what has been causing the constant coughing, although the problem may be neurological.

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