What's beyond me is that it's ANNOYING. I'm at least 20% more unproductive thanks to the never ceasing (listening to it right now) cough. I do not understand why managers cannot wise up to this.
But you need to realize that, unless you work at some place special, in your company's eyes deadlines still need to be met, and taking sick leave is frowned upon.
In fact, taking too much sick leave can hurt your career. Many HR departments have a system that flags employees for sick leave "abuse". Our latest version of that software is enhanced with "advanced AI", so you know it's gotta be good.
Humans are not reasonable beings. Even you. Even me.
Is it right or healthy? That's definitely up for debate.