Spring allergies: COVID-19 risk or not?
One day in May a few years back, I cursed my seasonal allergies as I left my lecture room. My desperate search for water and some tissues suggested that my allergy symptoms were getting worse – likely the pollen count was getting higher, I thought. I did not look forward to delivering my upcoming lectures: it’s distracting to teach when your nose is constantly dripping and itching, and when you’re worried about losing your voice by the end of a three-hour class.
A couple of days later, I realized that it wasn’t my allergy symptoms getting worse: the chills made it clear that I was dealing with a spring cold that had snuck-up on me, because my allergies had masked the early cold symptoms. I wondered how many people I might have infected in the days before this discovery, even as I shrugged my shoulders, knowing that it was too late now… and besides, a cold is usually only an inconvenience, even if unpleasant.
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As Alberta has sought to manage the spread of COVID-19, and as I have heard repeated reminders to self-isolate if we experience even the mildest symptoms, I have looked ahead to the spring months, and wondered if self-isolation would apply to allergic reactions, such as to snow mold and pollen. My first thought was: surely not – I can’t infect anyone with my allergies, because my immune system is just over-reacting to a harmless pollen in the environment. And then I listened more closely to Dr. Deena Hinshaw’s message: in early days, evidence had demonstrated that “even mild symptoms – a minor sore throat or runny nose – can result in spread of infection”. To make matters worse, Dr. Hinshaw has commented recently on new evidence suggesting that virus transmission sometimes happens before individuals have symptoms of infection, and this is playing a larger role in virus spread than was expected from earlier data in China. I know from personal experience that my allergies can mask the onset of cold symptoms, so I can also assume that I wouldn’t recognize the early signs if I were infected the coronavirus, and so I wouldn’t self-isolate in time to avoid spreading the virus. Additionally, my sneezing, coughing, and nose blowing from my allergies would be the ideal vehicle to spread the virus that I didn’t know I had. Compared to a cold that is mostly harmless (although even that perspective is worth further conversation), allowing COVID-19 to spread has the potential to do so much more harm. I couldn’t just shrug my shoulders if I discovered that I was infected, and I had been out and about in the previous days as a carrier and active spreader of the disease.
Much as I don’t want to admit it, my conclusion is: yes, when I am experiencing spring allergies, I do have to stay home, I do have to self-isolate. I don’t want to admit it, because I know that self-isolation is not fun: I’ve already experienced the cabin fever of self-isolation once because I caught a cold just around the time that physical distancing practices were put into effect. What’s more, I fear how long my allergies may keep me confined this year – could it be two to four weeks for me, or maybe more? I don’t look forward to the inconvenience, but when I weigh it against the value of a life lost, I choose to do what is necessary to preserve lives.
If you suffer from spring allergies, have you thought about this scenario? Have you thought through the risks? My apologies if I am offering yet one more difficult choice when we are already coping with so many difficult choices and changes. If that is the case, may this knowledge help you to plan how you can successfully manage during your spring allergies, and avoid the stress of an unpleasant surprise.
If you are struggling with the array of recent changes – whether to stay up-to-date, to make sense of them, or to plan how you can manage well in the midst of these difficult circumstances – feel free to call or email us at Navigate Your Health, to speak to a trusted health navigator and advocate, to help you make good decisions in the midst of these challenges.