As much as we all might wish otherwise, COVID-19 just doesn’t want to go away. It keeps changing to survive and with that change, adds to the list of possible symptoms. Trouble is, some of those symptoms might be mistaken for something else doing the rounds at the moment – hay fever. So how can you tell the difference?
There’s a lot of scope for confusion; over 25 percent of adults in the US were diagnosed with hay fever in 2021 and unfortunately for those people, pollen levels have been particularly high and early this year.
At the same time, there are new variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, circulating that have typically milder – albeit still unpleasant – symptoms that can overlap with seasonal conditions like hay fever.
There are, however, some key differences, between the most common symptoms of hay fever and the estimated most prevalent COVID variant circulating in the US right now, KP.3.
While some people have been experiencing nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting as symptoms of the newer variants, a pollen allergy isn’t likely to trigger the same effects.
On the other hand, a persistent cough is still a mainstay symptom of COVID, but though pollen might give you enough of a tickly throat that you feel the need to cough, it’s not likely to be the same extent as that with COVID.
Sticking with the throat, you might also get a sore one with both COVID and hay fever, but it’s generally not so common to get one with the latter. If it doesn’t go away after spending a while away from pollen and getting relief from other pollen symptoms, it’s more likely to be caused by an infection.
As for losing your sense of taste and smell, do you also have a blocked nose? If yes, then it’s possible that your inability to fully enjoy food and drink is from hay fever bunging you up.
The newest symptoms of COVID-19 come courtesy of the so-called FLiRT group of variants – of which KP.3 is a member – which have become particularly widespread. All are offshoots of JN.1, an Omicron spin-off that popped up and caused trouble earlier this year.
These variants are rather less saucy than they sound; the name comes from the amino acid mutations they’ve picked up in the spike protein, the part of the virus that latches onto the cells in our bodies and allows it to infect them.
The immune system can learn to recognize spike proteins – either naturally or through vaccination – and get rid of the virus, but by evolving into slightly different forms, the virus can evade destruction.
Though not always, viruses can often end up triggering much milder symptoms through this process – and that kids, is how we wound up in this confusing place.
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The content of this article is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.