With spring and the return of sunny days, it is also that of… hay fever! According to INSERM, one in four French people is allergic to pollen today. And currently, Île-de-France is in full high allergic risk. The region is in red on the map produced by the National Aerobiological Surveillance Network (RNSA). At the moment, it is the pollen of the trees which poses a problem: that of the oaks, the birches. Runny nose, sneezing, hoarse throat, … Lhe symptoms of a pollen allergy are very similar to those of another disease: Covid-19. In times of pandemic, the life of respiratory allergies is therefore even more complicated.
This is the case of Zoé, 26, who lives in Pantin and works in communication. The young woman has 16 years of various respiratory allergies: pollen from trees, flowers and grasses as well as cat hair. “As soon as the weather starts to get nice, I have watery eyes, a runny nose, a cough… I have also developed asthma for two years”, she lists. Symptoms that resemble those of Covid-19, yet Zoe did not get caught up in them. “When I have an allergy attack, I cry”she says, “I’m starting to not see anything and it stings me. It’s very different from what I’ve been able to read about the symptoms of Covid.”
However, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the two. This is what explains Sophie Silcret-Grieudoctor allergist in Paris, attached to the asthma and allergy center of the Trousseau hospital: “_there may be confusion_. In both cases there is rhinitis, ie runny nose, sneezing, slightly red eyes. In the case of Covid, it is associated with a flu syndrome with fever and body aches, headaches.” If in doubtDoctor Silcret Grieu specifies that “You have to take a test or go see your doctor.“.