The No. 1 Sign Your Allergies Are Actually COVID, Doctor Says

Fall has simply begun, and people of us with allergy symptoms can already really feel it. Because the leaves change and the climate shifts, there are extra allergens within the air to annoy your eyes and nostril. And whereas sneezing and sniffles are all the time disagreeable, in 2021, even the slightest stuffy nostril or lightest cough can conjure up the concern that you’ve got a COVID case in your arms. Though lots of the signs of allergy symptoms and COVID do overlap, docs say there’s one signal that your signs are doubtless not simply allergy symptoms. Learn on to see in case your runny nostril might be COVID.

RELATED: If You’re Vaccinated, Your COVID Symptoms Could Be Different, Study Says.

Though gentle COVID circumstances and allergy symptoms share a variety of the identical signs, specialists say there’s one which differentiates the 2. “Allergy symptoms will never cause a fever. If in case you have a fever, you’ll be able to’t blame that in your allergy symptoms,” inside medication and pediatric specialist Casey Mabry, MD, instructed NBC affiliate WBAL.

Internal medicine physician Jay Shi, MD, additionally identified this vital distinction. “Seasonal allergy symptoms don’t trigger fever,” he instructed Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Well being System (SCL Well being), “In case you are experiencing fever, it’s best to contact your physician or search out COVID-19 testing promptly.” Nonetheless, it is vital to notice that fever is not all the time current in a COVID case. So when you have any signs, it is higher to be secure and get examined.

RELATED: If You’re Fully Vaccinated, These Are the 5 COVID Symptoms to Look Out For.

Fever is the most important discrepancy between a COVID case and allergy symptoms, as a result of fever is a standard COVID symptom that by no means happens with allergy symptoms. However there are a number of different frequent COVID indicators that you just hardly ever or by no means see with allergy symptoms. In keeping with the Mayo Clinic, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea by no means happen with allergy symptoms however can typically be a symptom of COVID. Moreover, sore throats are uncommon in relation to allergy symptoms, however are sometimes discovered at the side of COVID.

Per the Mayo Clinic, a number of the signs that overlap between allergy symptoms and COVID embody coughing, runny nostril, tiredness, and pink eye. However when you have an itchy nostril, mouth, eyes, or interior ear, it is doubtless that you just simply have allergy symptoms, since these signs have not been broadly reported with COVID. Moreover, SCL Well being notes that in case your signs worsen if you go exterior, it is doubtless that you’ve got allergy symptoms. If in case you have COVID, the signs would typically worsen steadily over time, whether or not inside or exterior.

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Some frequent sense can assist when making an attempt to decipher whether or not you’ve gotten COVID or allergy symptoms. Mabry suggests contemplating whether or not the signs you are experiencing are new or one thing you’ve got had earlier than. “If in case you have model new allergy symptoms this yr, it is in all probability not allergy symptoms,” she instructed WBAL. “For those who, impulsively, are getting congestion and sore throat, and you are not feeling effectively within the fall, however you’ve got by no means had that earlier than, possibly get examined.”

RELATED: If You Have These Symptoms, Get Tested for COVID—Even If You’re Vaccinated.