4. Cough
Looking to steal the title of ‘most annoying symptom of illness ever’ from nasal congestion, make way for the persistent, nagging cough. In the realms of adenovirus, this is usually a winter month’s type thing. Most teachers throughout the land know that a cough spreads like a wildfire, even when half of those coughing aren’t actually sick.
As soon as the silence of a classroom or an auditorium is broken by the first initial cough, the floodgates open and coughs echo back and forth throughout the assembled heads. It’s like a declaration of freedom for all of those who wish to cough.
The trouble with adenovirus is that a persistent and nagging cough really is an early warning sign that something a little nastier is on the way. Sorry teachers, you may just have to ensure the cough orchestra, touring from mid-fall right through to the beginning of spring. What fun! Good luck with that.