I remember reading this in a book when I was a kid. I have no idea which book, but a nurse tells a kid that yawning is a sign that someone is getting better.
I always accepted this as truth, and it seemed accurate in my own experiences with cold, flu and strep. But I’ve never read it anywhere else, and have searched for years.
Is it true? 
I have a sore throat/cold thing right now and find that it’s quite painful to yawn with the sore throat, so I try to stifle yawns.
Wrong. You get tried and yawn or hear it and yawn, just like a healthy person.
I’ve not heard this meme, nor observed it to be true, in my 25+ years of medical practice.
I have noted tons of sick people yawning in that time, though.
Keeping your patients waiting a bit? 
Nah, telling them long, pointless anecdotes. 
Thank you Qadgop and others. This had been bothering me for yyeeeaaarrss.
Now I just need to find that author and give them a good talkin’ to!
Some haven’t left the building in years!
Yeah but all the remarks he has to endure are off the cuff.
Just noticed this thread. When I was a kid and would be puking sick, I always knew I was getting better when I would start yawning. That was my “sign” that I was done puking. I would get a huge rush of relief at the first yawn, and then it was always improved health after that.