COLLEGE STATION, Texas — According to the World Health Organization, even small differences from seasonal average temperatures are associated with increased illness but with these drastic changes in temperatures, many are wondering if allergies can be triggered as well.
From cold fronts to rainy days and now onto warmer days, residents can experience some symptoms like congestion and sneezing, but this doesn’t necessarily mean allergies can suddenly arise.
Dr. Lon Young, Chief Medical Officer at CapRock Health Systems explained, “It wouldn’t be common to have a major difference in the allergens in the air one day to the next just based on if it’s cold or hot there are certainly variations of the allergens in the air but their more seasonal or it changes weekly or monthly it wouldn’t be well it was cold yesterday and today it's warm so today I have more allergies than I did yesterday that’s not exactly how it works.”
Dr. Young says drastic weather changes can impact your ability to defend yourself against respiratory illnesses like COVID and the flu but many still mistake those symptoms with allergies.
“We should be careful when we self-diagnose ourselves with allergies because the number of patients I’ve seen who ended up having flu or COVID or something and they had decided it was allergies, it’s a lot,” Dr. Young said.
While the signs of allergies can overlap with the signs of infections, it’s important to visit with your physician to make sure you’re not infecting others.
“When you have a cold, you’re contagious you should wear a mask stay away from people stay at home, and so forth. If you’re suffering from allergies, it's miserable, but you’re not likely to harm anybody else with it,” Young described.
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