The coronavirus pandemic is still approaching its peak in the U.S. – and so has the allergy season.
While there is no data yet to link allergies to coronavirus risks, experts warn that controlling allergies can be important in helping the body fight viruses like COVID-19.
Seasonal allergies that affect more than 50 million Americans each year are caused by a mix-up of the immune system that causes our body to attack harmless substances such as tree pollen as if they were pathogens, causing a wave of inflammation.
That inflammation itself can damage your airways and lungs and weaken their defenses against legitimate threats, such as coronavirus.
And if the virus attacks someone who has already been affected by allergies or asthma, the effects can be even greater, especially if a ‘cytokine storm’ occurs – an out-of-control influx of immune cells.
Allergy sufferers should make sure to take their medications during the pandemic, as an excessive immune response to triggers such as pollen can weaken their defenses against viruses, such as COVID-19 (resistant)
Allergy symptoms – an itchy, runny nose, sneezing, watery eyes – are really symptoms of the body’s immune response to the allergen.
Mucus production increases in an attempt to flush out the irritant, and immune cells rush to a misguided rescue.
“You inhale your allergen, say pollen, through your nose. And that’s why you have itching in the nose, runny nose, and watery eyes, ”said Brigham and the Allergist at Women’s Hospital, Dr. Lakiea Wright, to CNN.
“That causes a lot of inflammation that can weaken your body’s barriers, and it can be easier for viruses to enter.”
Inflammation occurs as a result of the flow of white blood cells and other immune cells to the site of a threat – usually an infection or injury.
But when those healing cells reach their destination only to discover that there are actually no viruses, bacteria or traumas to work on, they start picking on healthy tissues instead.
And if the inflammation continues for a long time and becomes chronic, regardless of whether there is a legitimate threat, the healthy surrounding tissue will eventually suffer additional damage.
Patients with chronic health problems such as lung disease are particularly at risk for coronavirus. It’s not clear if allergies pose risks to the infection, but they can make people more vulnerable to viruses (resistant)
Allergies, by definition, result from the immune system jumping out at an observed one that is not really there, meaning these defense cells can go to work attacking the healthy tissues.
In addition, mucus production increases with allergies.
Although mucus protects the airways in the lungs from damage, too much mucus can actually make the cells that make up these airways more vulnerable to infections such as coronavirus.
Worryingly, both seasonal allergies and coronavirus affect the airways, including the nose, throat, and lungs.
If and when that infection occurs, the body has a second trigger for an immune response, doubling the already elevated level of inflammation.
And in coronavirus patients, it is the out of control inflammation that destroys the lungs, making patients in dire need of respirators, which are scarce.
There are no data yet on the proportion of coronavirus patients in general, those on the ICU or those who died with allergies.
But the potential for allergies to increase the risks and magnify the effects of the virus that killed more than 15,000 Americans is just one more reason to stay indoors as much as possible to limit pollen exposure and track allergy medications that control the immune response to allergens.
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