During the pandemic, millions of Americans worked from home, whether they were sick or not, and could weather the occasional allergy attack or common cold in private.
However, a new report from Bloomberg noted a spike in the purchase of over-the-counter cough and cold medications amid the emergence of “sick shaming.”
Long story short, with many former work-at-homers back in their cubicles, they’re feeling pressure to show up, even if they’re under the weather but COVID-negative — so they’re relying on medicine to fend off not just their coughs, but suspicious looks from colleagues.
On the former point, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Americans took fewer sick days in 2023 than they had in the previous two years.
On the latter, Bloomberg reports sales of upper respiratory over-the-counter medications rose 23% in the 52 weeks through early December 2023 versus the same pre-pandemic period in 2019 — to the tune of $11.8 billion.
Sales of cold and flu treatments shot up 30% in that time — meaning a merry Christmas for the makers of Mucinex and DayQuil.
For those whose sniffles and coughs are from allergies, they’re trying to hide, as well: Sales of allergy treatments Zyrtec and Benadryl and decongestant Sudafed rose 10% to $4.9 billion in 2023.
Jennifer Bourgeois, a clinical pharmacist at online pharmacy platform SingleCare, tells Bloomberg, “These cough and cold symptoms — because there’s so much overlap with symptoms of COVID — there’s this kind of fear.”
She warns against a “knee-jerk” reaction to using them, since all medicines carry side effects.
So if you’re not feeling well, stay home: Side effects are more dangerous than side-eye.