Allergy season, will it arrive later this year?

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – This time last year, allergy season was in full swing.

Due to our cold winter temperatures and weekly lows near freezing, the plants have yet to bloom and the pollen hasn’t arrived.

Dr. Sunil Joshi, an allergist at Family Allergy and Asthma Consultants, says the continuous cold weather will definitely push the start of allergy season back.

“The fact that we have had more freezes this year and have more persistently cooler temperatures will very likely push back that burst of spring pollen and from what we’ve seen the most recent years,” Joshi said.

With allergy season starting later, it will make the total season shorter.

“Our tree pollen season typically ends by around Mother’s Day, or certainly by the end of May. So the shorter duration of the season, the better for us,” Joshi said.

Not to mention it’s important to know the difference between allergies and symptoms of the coronavirus.

“So obviously, the symptoms are very, very similar, the nasal congestion, the runny nose, a sore throat, all of those things can be with allergies, just as well as they can be with COVID,” Joshi said.

Seasonal allergies and symptoms of COVID-19 do have a few similarities, especially for asthma patients. The chief difference? Those with coronavirus, or any other virus, will typically have a fever.

So if you feel under the weather and you do suffer from seasonal allergies, it’s important to take your temperature to make sure you’re not running a temperature.

The best way to really know the difference is to get tested.

“If you go from being a normally healthy person that just has sneezing and wheezing and coughing with your allergies and suddenly you’re having a temperature, at that point you’d want to bring that to medical attention,” Joshi said.

Most importantly, those with seasonal allergies should keep up with medication that manages the symptoms.

“Remember, though, that if you’re doing over-the-counter medications and your allergies aren’t getting better to please see your provider at that point because you may be treating allergies and something else entirely different could be going on,” Joshi said.