Why does springtime increase the risk of rhinitis and asthma?
Spring is the time when patients allergic to different pollens in the air show the most symptoms. Each tree, each plant, pollinates at a certain time, and knowing the agent that causes the allergy to each patient, we can put the treatment at the time in which each patient needs.
Knowing the cause of the symptoms and the pollination periods of the plants and trees, will help us to make a good control of the symptoms in each patient.
What symptoms do they cause?
Fundamentally, the symptoms that we can identify are the following:
- Itchy eyes
- Tearing
- Sneezing
- Watery discharge from the nose
- Itching of the palate
In case the allergy causes asthma, a dry cough predominantly at night, whistling in the chest and choking sensation will appear.
These symptoms occur when the patient breathes the pollen to which he/she is allergic, that is why this type of spring allergy is seasonal, since the rest of the year there is no pollen. On the other hand, these same symptoms can be caused by other allergens, such as dust mites, animal epithelia, etc. In these cases the symptoms would be perennial throughout the year.
What can we do not to confuse these spring allergies with Covid-19 symptoms?
In some cases they could be confused, since both allergy symptoms and those caused by Sars-CoV-2 produce cough, congestion and sometimes headache.
On the other hand, allergy does not usually cause fever, myalgia or pneumonia, and allergic symptoms respond very well to medication.
In case of doubt, it is solved with a Sars-CoV-2 antigen test.
How can these symptoms be avoided? How can they be prevented?
The best prevention is a good diagnosis and a good treatment. The treatment of allergic symptoms depends on seasonality, severity and the patient’s location.
Normally, patients who have already been diagnosed have prescribed treatments that they take at the appropriate times. And in many cases we use vaccines, immunotherapy treatments that control the symptoms with much less need of medication and in many occasions only with the vaccine, all the allergic symptomatology is controlled.
For more information about allergy, contact a specialist in Allergology.