Doctors say it’s normal for respiratory symptoms to last for weeks, though people may face a higher chance of more severe illness or back-to-back infections this winter.

It’s a common complaint this winter: After coming down with a respiratory illness, some people feel like they can’t shake a lingering cough or runny nose despite other symptoms going away. Or they start to recover then see symptoms return a week or two later.

Doctors say that course of events isn’t unusual, though it might be more pronounced this year.

Covid, flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are all circulating widely. As of Dec. 16, flu hospitalizations had increased nearly 200% over the previous four weeks. And Covid hospitalizations increased around 40% over the four-week period ending Dec. 9, the latest data available.