If you haven't got a cold yourself at the moment there's a high likelihood someone you know has.
And it's probably not a mild one either.
There's a pretty rotten strain doing the rounds involving a sore throat, and an NHS doctor has been explaining why on TikTok.
Dr Karan Raj (@dr.karanr) told his 18.5k followers the reason we all feel so rough this week.
He explained:
"If you've been sick recently, runny nose, sore throat, genuinely feeling cr*p but it's not covid, you're not the only one.
"There's been a big rise in the number of viral infections recently and the main reason is because of the easing of Covid restrictions. We're mixing, meeting up with people, being outdoors in a way we haven't done for about 18 months."
The return of schools, offices and hospitality spaces plus a lack of restrictions means we're all far more able to pass our germs around as @dr.karanr confirmed:
"The initial lockdowns helped to reduce the spread of covid but it also helped to reduce the number of non covid infections like cold and flu and now that we're going back out, the germs are coming back out too."
Dr Karan Rajan, is an NHS surgeon, who uses his social media platform TikTok to explain medical situations to millions of viewers.
Almost 654,000 viewers have liked his 'worst cold ever' explainer video as the nation struggles its way through a rather snot-filled autumn.
