Whether the Mount Vernon area may feel this way yet, spring is here, and with that comes allergy season. With the pandemic still lingering around it could serve to be a confusing time for people trying to evaluate whether a symptom is COVID-19 or allergies, and Ohio UnitedHealthcare CMO Gary Grosel had some pointers for the public.
“This is the time for pollen season, even though as I look outside it is snowing right now,” Grosel told the Mount Vernon News on April 18. “50 million Americans are affected by this, but with COVID lingering around, you kind of have to know the differences.”
Grosel said that the main differentiator between allergies and COVID-19 symptoms is fever. Someone with COVID-19 will almost always have a fever, which doesn’t happen with allergies. Allergies tend to cause itchy eyes, sneezing, congestion and a runny nose, which Grosel said can happen with COVID-19, but it is more likely to come from outdoor allergies.
“With COVID, there’s a cough along with shortness of breath and fatigue,” Grosel said. “Achiness and GI symptoms are more apparent. Sore throat can happen with allergies with post nasal drip, but with COVID it is much more of that razor blade feeling.”
Grosel said that a headache is something that can happen with both, but it is more common in COVID-19 cases. A sure fire sign of COVID-19 is also a loss of taste and/or smell.
Allergies are not contagious and is someone’s immune system overreacting to what is something normally benign. This could be due to allergic rhinitis, eczema, skin allergies or food allergies.
Grosel said when trying to differentiate whether symptoms may be COVID-19 or allergies, it is important to recall one’s past. He said if things like pollen and ragweed have been bothersome in the past and there is no fever, it is probably not necessary to get a COVID-19 test. However, he said, it never hurts to have peace of mind.
“If you are having a fever at night with some of the chills, along with symptoms that you might get with allergies, that might be something you should get checked,” Grosel said.
As far as alleviating symptoms for allergies, the top way is through avoidance. However, Grosel said, after people have been cooped up from the pandemic and then into the winter months, this is a common time for people to want to get outside to enjoy the weather. He said antihistamines do work for symptoms, but some will have side effects like making someone tired. However, he said it will help with the runny nose, sneezing and watery eyes. Another way to help allergies is through therapy where a small amount of what you are allergic to is injected to get the body to build up immunity. Grosel also said that now that more people are sanitizing just about everything, people’s bodies aren’t getting used to it.
“We are seemingly getting more allergic to things and some of it is because of global warming and climate change, if you can believe that,” Grosel said. “With more carbon dioxide the plants are growing bigger and growing more pollen. Truly, there is more pollen out there.”
Most recently, in terms of COVID-19, he said the virus has gotten more contagious but symptoms tend to be less severe.
“This virus was really smart for a while, but then it got greedy,” Grosel said,. “Yes, they are a little more contagious but it is almost like going back to the colds.”
He said what he has seen is recent strains being more mild and something most people can tolerate without being hospitalized, and even more often have it and not even know. However, he said, there are still people getting extremely sick and dying from complications of COVID-19 and it is still wise to use caution.
“I think what it comes down to is there will be something more seasonal like the flu,” Grosel said.
Grosel said that since COVID is caused by a virus that is spread through droplets, it is clearly very contagious and this is especially true with recent variants like Omicron. He said that this is why wearing a mask is still beneficial.
“I think masks are not going to go away per se,” Grosel said. “They’re going to definitely decrease, but I think come COVID and flu season some people might go back to masks.
“Doing that and the usual things we talk about like washing hands are still very smart things to do.”
