Chart distinguishes between hay fever and Covid-19
The Asthma Society of Ireland Medical Advisory Group worked to develop this resource
Dr. Dermot Nolan
The Asthma Society of Ireland has created a Know Your Symptoms Chart that can help people with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) see if their symptoms suggest hay fever or Covid-19.
The company worked with its medical advisory group to develop this resource, which is available on asthma.ie.
"As the hay fever season begins, it's important to understand the overlap between hay fever, asthma and novel coronavirus symptoms, but also to help differentiate symptoms between the three," he said Dr. Dermot Nolan, Asthma Director of the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) and a member of the Medical Advisory Group of the Asthma Society.
The Asthma Society graph released as part of this year's hay fever campaign clearly shows which symptoms are severely or occasionally linked to Covid-19, hay fever, asthma and COPD to help patients learn more.
"Common Covid-19 symptoms are malaise, temperature, slight shortness of breath or persistent cough. The most common symptoms of hay fever are itchy eyes, itchy throat, and a runny nose. The loss of smell and taste that are symptoms of the onset of the new coronavirus can also be symptoms of hay fever.
“There are also notable differences between the symptoms of Covid-19 and hay fever. For example, the Covid-19 cough is persistent, while a hay fever cough tends to appear at night.
"People with hay fever don't usually feel uncomfortable or tired, but these are common symptoms of Covid-19. People with hay fever, despite having symptoms, don't feel particularly uncomfortable. When a patient has Covid-19 they are usually unwell and prone to it feeling flu-like pain or chills in your body, which is not typical of hay fever.
“Many people have also identified fatigue as a feature of Covid-19. The tiredness that hay fever suffers is related to patients taking certain antihistamines, not the disease itself, ”added Dr. Nolan added.
Sarah O’Connor, CEO of the Asthma Society of Ireland, said: “For the majority of people with hay fever, the condition can be described as annoying, but it is usually not considered life threatening. For the 304,000 people with asthma and hay fever, uncontrolled hay fever can be just that. Hay fever symptoms can cause asthma symptoms to escalate into a severe asthma attack, which in some cases can be fatal. In Ireland, one person dies of asthma every week. "• •
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