SALT LAKE CITY – With the arrival of spring, the pollen count increases.
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Watery eyes and sneezing for many Utahns are on the horizon, but the question that many may think is whether their symptoms are allergies or COVID-19?
“This is an important issue,” said Dr. Todd Vento, an infectious disease specialist at Intermountain Healthcare, when addressing it on Thursday.
Vento told FOX 13 that some symptoms you shouldn’t see in allergies include:
- Muscle aches
- Fever
- Sometimes sore throat and shortness of breath
As for a specific allergy symptom, sneezing is not strongly associated with COVID-19
But something to consider is that an asymptomatic COVID-positive person who also has an allergy may be prone to spreading the virus because of excessive sneezing.
“I personally don’t want to walk around where people are sneezing without a mask,” said Vento. “With itchy, watery eyes, they say it’s just allergies, don’t worry; I won’t feel so good. “
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The best thing to do is to keep wearing a mask and cover your face while sneezing because, although other illnesses, like the flu, are at record levels now, allergies will still be just as serious.
Doctors say that when in doubt, it is always good to get tested to be 100% sure.
“We don’t have the level of COVID we had six months ago, which is great, but it’s not over yet,” said Vento. “In this situation, I would tell people that I would consider taking the test, whether you had an exposure with or without symptoms. “