Pulmonologist Shmelev: smokers have cough with sputum without ARVI symptoms 
Pulmonologist Vladimir Shmelev called signs by which it is possible to determine whether a person's cough is a symptom of colds and told how to distinguish it from a cough in a smoker.
The specialist explained that lovers of tobacco products can have a cough with phlegm within three months a year. Against the background of the appearance of such a cough, the smoker does not have a fever, and also does not develop chills or muscle pains, as happens with an acute respiratory viral infection.
A cold cough, as the doctor notes, begins with a dry cough, and only then sputum production begins. According to Shmelev, the cough with ARVI disappears within three weeks. The sick person experiences sore throat and muscles, runny nose and fever, and other symptoms are possible.
Previously, Anna Ermund, an employee of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Cell Biology at the University of Gothenburg, revealed that in some diseases when coughing, the person begins to choke. The specialist named the signs of a dangerous cough, in the presence of which it is necessary to consult a doctor. So, the combination of a cold with a wet cough is very common. Fever can be added to them.