Do you know the difference between allergies and COVID-19?

DAYTON, Ohio — Seasonal allegories and COVID-19 symptoms can sometimes look a lot alike, which is why a local doctor explains what to look out for to decipher between the two.

Allergy suffers know springtime can be a struggle as this is now the second allergy season since the start of the pandemic and doctors say because allergy symptoms can sometimes mimic COVID-19 symptoms, it’s hard to know when to go and get tested.

Dr. Thomas Huth, Reid Health Vice President of Medical Affairs, said, “We’ve talked to many people who say at first I thought my allergy symptoms were just acting up.”

>> Is it COVID-19, flu, cold or allergies? What is causing you to feel sick this year

Dr. Huth said it’s tough to know which is which as both allergies and COVID-19 can present cough, congestion, headache or shortness of breath, but there are a few differences.

“People tend to have significant fever, that’s unusual with allergies. The headache with COVID-19 is a lot more generalized and an actual pain as opposed to pressure in the sinuses,” Dr. Huth said.

He also said, “A dead giveaway is people with COVID have a loss of sense of taste and smell and that’s unusual with allergies.”

Storm Center 7 Meteorologist Dontae Jones said as we head into April, allergies will only get worse.

“Spring we usually have trees that are blooming, the flowers blooming, plants, grass starting to grow, and that’s when we noticed the uptick of people with allergies start to get bothered with all the pollen in the atmosphere,” Jones said.

According to Dr. Huth, if people attribute any symptoms to allergies and go on about their day-to-day life, it may lead to more COVID-19 infections.

He said, “We want people to think of COVID-19 if they haven’t been vaccinated. If they’ve been out and about or known COVID exposure, we need to take responsibility for myself.” “Anything out of the ordinary needs to spark us to get tested instead of assuming it’s allergies.”

Cox Media Group