Allergies or COVID? How to know if your symptoms are seasonal allergies or COVID-19
Allergy season is in full bloom with its stuffy noses and sneezes, but telling the difference between seasonal allergies and COVID-19 can be difficult.
Allergies and COVID-19 have some similar side effects but are easier to tell apart than you might think, according to the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, an association for infection preventionists with a mission to advance the science behind infection prevention and control.
Allergy symptoms such as sneezing or an itchy nose, eyes, or mouth are rarely symptoms of COVID-19. In the same way, most COVID-19 symptoms are not usually seen in someone suffering with allergies, such as fevers, chills, muscles aches, vomiting, diarrhea or nausea, the association’s website states.
Symptoms such as a stuffy nose, tiredness, cough, shortness of breath and a lack of taste or smell can be effects of both allergies and COVID-19, but these symptoms still have some differences between the sicknesses:
▪ If your cough is dry, that’s likely a sign of COVID-19, whereas a cough caused by allergies is usually more wet.
▪ Allergies can also cause stuffy noses that limit the ability to smell or taste and be confused for COVID-19 symptoms. If taking an allergy medication does not help these symptoms, it could likely be a sign of COVID-19.
▪ If you are experiencing shortness of breath, this symptom likely points to COVID-19, as during allergy season shortness of breath usually only occurs in those who deal with asthma or other respiratory conditions.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have also recorded the differences in allergies and COVID-19 symptoms, and recently tweeted a graph to help people judge what their symptoms could be from:
▪ COVID: Fever or chills, cough, body aches, headaches, tiredness, loss of taste or smell, shortness of breath. Less common are sore throat and runny or stuffy nose.
▪ Allergies: Cough, headaches, tiredness, sore throat, sneezing, itchy or watery eyes, runny or stuffy nose. Less common is shortness of breath.
According to the University of Maryland Medical System, one of the best ways to determine if you have COVID-19, or just allergies is to take your temperature. If you have no fever, your symptoms could likely be from allergies.
Taking allergy medication can also help determine whether your symptoms are just allergies or COVID-19, by seeing if your symptoms lessen after taking the medication.
If you have any COVID-19 symptoms, the CDC continues to recommend staying home and testing as soon as possible, as well as monitoring symptoms closely in case of an emergency.
This story was originally published April 13, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Allergies or COVID? How to know if your symptoms are seasonal allergies or COVID-19."
