Allergy symptoms could be mild COVID-19

Between flu, allergies and the COVID-19 omicron variant, respiratory symptoms are having a field day in Florida, and everywhere, from hospital systems to drug stores, is feeling the effects.

During the current omicron wave, mild COVID-19 cases have become more common than they used to be. This makes it harder to tell the difference between the virus and the common cold or allergies.

Experts such as Dr. Timothy Hendrix, senior medical director for AdventHealth Centra Care, are urging people with mild symptoms to assume they are infected with COVID-19.

“Right now we’re seeing such a high rate of transmission within our community and finding so many people who didn’t think they had COVID, and indeed, they did,” he said.

The top five symptoms reported during both the delta and omicron wave are, in order: runny nose, headache, fatigue, sneezing, and sore throat, according to a December study of data from over four million participants by researchers from health science company ZOE and King’s College London in the United Kingdom.

If someone has an itchy throat or eyes, it’s probably allergies. Absent that, all of those common COVID19 symptoms appear with colds, making it impossible to differentiate without testing, according to Mayo Clinic’s website.

People also reported a loss of taste and smell less often in the omicron surge, the ZOE study found. Hendrix has noticed this in his patients.

“What I worry about is people thinking they have a cough or runny nose, and ‘Well, I can still smell fine, so it must not be COVID-19,’ which would be wrong,” Hendrix said.

With so many common symptoms coming from all directions, medications are flying off the shelves.

Cough suppressants, particularly in liquid form, have been hard to get at Umatilla Drug Store, though the pharmacy has kept up with its needs, said owner and pharmacist Richard Greer.

“Almost all of the allergy triggers for people are coming into play right now,” Greer told Orlando Sentinel in a phone interview. “We’re seeing a lot of allergies, a lot of chest congestion.”

National chains are pressed for resources too; both CVS and Publix said they are seeing increased demand for cold and cough products.

“It is cold and flu season as well, so there may be additional demand this time of year,” said Publix spokeswoman Maria Brous.

On the health care side, hospitals are filling up with severely ill patients, said Dr. Vincent Hsu, executive director of infection prevention and epidemiologist at AdventHealth Central Florida, during a news conference last Wednesday.

“It is still a very serious virus to be reckoned with. It is not a common cold,” Hsu said.

Growing evidence from animal studies suggests omicron may be milder because it’s less likely to infect lung cells than past variants, according to a summary published in Nature on Jan. 5. However, omicron is still dangerous.

Florida’s COVID-19 hospitalizations increased 57% for the week of Jan. 3 to 9, reaching 13,551, according to Tuesday data from the Department of Health and Human Services.

Omicron may also just appear less severe than past variants because more people got vaccinated, said Tom Hladish, a research scientist in the University of Florida’s Department of Biology. More research is needed.

“I think that the best explanation right now is that it’s milder because many people have immunity,” he said.