COVID Or Allergies? How To Understand Your Symptoms

Allergy season is right around the corner, and some of the symptoms experienced can mask themselves as the coronavirus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued information about what symptoms share the same characteristics as the coronavirus, so people know if they need to get tested for the virus or if they need medication for their seasonal allergies.

What Are Allergy Symptoms?

Allergies typically include irritated eyes such as itching, watering, and burning sensations. A basic over-the-counter eye drop or allergy medication can be used to treat these symptoms.

Allergies may also include frequent sneezing.

What Are COVID Symptoms?

COVID-19 symptoms, however, differ. One may experience a fever that can range from low-grade temperatures to over 100 degrees as well as chills and body aches.

Other common COVID symptoms include loss of taste and smell, nausea, and diarrhea.

What Are Allergy And COVID Symptoms?

The difficult-to-distinguish symptoms that are shared between both allergy sufferers and COVID-19 infected people include coughing, fatigue, headache, sore throat, congestion, or runny nose.

“COVID-19 is gonna give you more symptoms than sneezy, itchy nose, itchy eyes,” Dr. Richard F. Lockey, director of the USF Division of Allergy and Immunology told WTVT, a Fox affiliate out of Tampa, Florida. “It’s gonna give you fever, chills, aches and pains, cough. With COVID-19 it’s gonna be limited, with an allergic problem it's gonna go on week after week after week.”

COVID-19 and allergy symptoms can also include shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, but with allergies, it occurs in people who already have a breathing or lung condition, the Kansas City Health Department told Chicago local news network WGN.

With COVID, breathing problems happen to those that don’t have underlying conditions, WGN reported.

What Can You Do?

For those that think they have COVID-19, a coronavirus test can confirm those suspicions and will require quarantining until a negative result is produced, the CDC said.

If you believe that you are suffering from allergies, consult a doctor for medication treatment to help to alleviate the symptoms you are experiencing.