Thanks! And also, gross! Just imagining flakey peeling lungs now.

This is really well explained, thank you!

Can you expand a bit more on the sloughing of superficial mucosal layers? Does the virus/your immune system just destroy those layers? Would it be similar to like a scab or dead skin with new skin underneath ?

Thanks for your answer!

I think people are giving complex answers because I asked why the post viral cough only starts / gets worse after you start getting better or have cleared the virus.

As an example, I had mild covid a few months back (vaxxed + boosted). I hardly had a cough. I started testing negative on ag tests after 7 days. And then I got this horrible dry cough for like a week.

So whether or not I had fully cleared the virus — maybe it was still chilling in my bronchi — where was that cough when I first got sick?