We’ve got a bug like that down here (FL). My 14 year old was sick for almost 4 weeks - it took 3 rounds of antibiotics to fix him up.
Now I’ve got it; I’ve been sick for a week and a half. The coughing fits would double me over. For a week I was so tired I had to sit down and rest after just walking across the house. Now I’m on antibiotics. I’m doing quite a bit better since I started the antibiotics, but I’m not well. I just hope this course of antibiotics gets rid of it.
I am hearing about a lot of bronchitis and pneumonia in our community, too. One of the kids at my son’s school was hospitalized for over 10 days. My kids’ pediatrician said it has been a very bad year for flus and other respiratory illnesses - he has been seeing a lot of sick kids.
Just to be clear - I’m not in “OMG, Captain Trips is REAL!” camp. But there does seem to be a nasty bronchitis-causing illness circulating this season, and it is slow to respond to antibiotics. Given how sick it made me and my 14-year old, I could definitely see this illness causing a lot of fatalities among the elderly and other patients with weak immune systems.
For that reason, I’m talking to Mom by phone until I’m sure I’m not contagious any more.