If it feels like everyone around you in Chicago has a cough or a scratchy throat right now, the data backs that up. Emergency rooms were reporting cases of acute upper respiratory infections, sore throats, pneumonia and bronchitis in figures through Halloween, as several common cold-weather illnesses circulate at once across the region.
According to NBC Chicago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified four respiratory illnesses that have recently drawn attention or shown increased activity. The outlet also reported that a suburban Chicago hospital had to limit support for people waiting in its emergency room as respiratory virus cases climbed, underscoring just how busy local ERs have gotten this fall.
Rhinovirus And Enterovirus Lead The Pack
Rhinovirus and enterovirus cases are elevated nationally, while respiratory adenovirus is elevated in some regions of the country, per the same NBC Chicago report. The CDC described these trends as expected for this time of year, the station said, even as it noted elsewhere that a number of respiratory viruses were showing unusual trends for the season — a tension the report did not fully resolve.
These viruses may cause coughs, fevers, nasal congestion and shortness of breath, and more severe infections can progress into bronchitis or pneumonia, the station's report notes. HuffPost adds that rhinovirus and enterovirus are behind some of the most common illness syndromes people catch, including the common cold, and that enteroviruses can also trigger gastrointestinal illness and, in some cases, lesions on the hands and feet.
Dr. Emily Landon, executive medical director of infection prevention and control at UChicago, told NBC Chicago in October that “there is a pretty nasty round of rhino entero going around right now.” She added a blunt diagnosis for anyone feeling run down: “You probably have rhino enterovirus, and probably not influenza.” Landon also noted that rhinovirus and enterovirus are often tested together on a single lab panel, which is part of why they tend to get grouped together in public discussion.
A Seasonal Pattern, Doctors Say
HuffPost reporting places the current numbers in a broader seasonal context, noting that rhinovirus and enterovirus typically start increasing in the fall, often right around when kids head back to school. An expert quoted by HuffPost, Dr. Hazra, said the uptick isn't translating into a spike in hospitalizations or unusually severe illness: “I don’t want people to be worried that these are causing spikes in hospitalizations or people getting super sick.”
That seasonal framing lines up with earlier fall 2026 coverage from ABC7 Chicago, which found respiratory illnesses beginning to increase across the Chicago area as temperatures cooled and students returned to classrooms. Doctors at Rush Hospital told ABC7 at the time that influenza, COVID-19 and RSV activity remained low even as other respiratory viruses were already circulating, while the Cook County Department of Public Health said infection levels for flu, COVID-19 and RSV were still consistent with typical end-of-summer trends.
Strep, Walking Pneumonia And Whooping Cough
Group A strep infections began rising as children returned to school this fall but have since started stabilizing, the NBC Chicago report found. Group A strep causes strep throat and scarlet fever, and in rarer cases the bacteria can lead to more serious conditions like streptococcal toxic shock syndrome and necrotizing fasciitis.
Mycoplasma pneumoniae, a bacterium also known as walking pneumonia that can cause a chest cold or pneumonia, remains low in most of the United States based on emergency department visits and testing, the station reported. Whooping cough, a highly contagious respiratory infection formally known as pertussis, is circulating at levels below a post-pandemic peak, with the CDC noting that babies younger than one year face the highest risk of severe disease and complications. The CDC said vaccination remains the best way to prevent whooping cough complications, and the agency has also recommended hand washing, cleaning surfaces and staying home when sick as ways to limit the spread of these illnesses generally, since no public vaccines exist for several of them.
Flu And COVID Trends Diverge By Source
Flu activity has drawn its own mixed signals this season. Federal data cited by NBC Chicago in October showed flu numbers running above typical levels for that month, though still considered low overall, while Northwestern Medicine told the station that flu and COVID cases were slightly higher than usual for the season. Rush University Medical Center, meanwhile, said no single illness was spiking but confirmed that flu season had started early this year.
Landon told NBC Chicago that COVID numbers were decreasing after a late-summer increase. Separately, an early-season CDC FluView snippet cautioned that while influenza activity was running higher than typically observed at that point in the season, an earlier rise does not necessarily mean the season will peak higher or turn out more severe overall. For now, Chicago-area residents dealing with a cough or sore throat are more likely fighting rhinovirus or enterovirus than the flu, according to the doctors tracking the numbers.
