AUGUSTA, Ga. () – It’s already been a rough flu, COVID, and respiratory illness season.  And soon, we’ll start seeing a coat of yellow pollen on everything.  Doctors I spoke with say there are ways to avoid some of the itchy eyes and sniffling that come with Spring in the CSRA.

“Right now, we’re getting the double whammy because we’re seeing the patients who have, I guess you call it triple whammy,” said Dr. Donnie Dunagan, MD, Allergist. “Because they have the flu, they have the COVID, and they also have the allergies.”

It’s almost spring, and that means there is pollen in our area.  But it’s unclear if the pollen will improve because we lost so many trees after the hurricane.   Local doctors are prepared for the worst.

“We’re all sort of braced. 24 and 25 have been years where really nobody knows what to expect, right? We all been surprised,” said Dr. Chris Vickery, Partner, Augusta-Aiken ENT and Allergy.

Doctors we spoke to say they are already seeing patients struggling with allergies.

“Even as of three or four weeks ago, they are like, Donnie, there’s something out there right now that is driving me crazy,” said Dunagan. “And we know that it’s always the trees at this time of the year. But again, we also had the debris from the hurricane, so we have mold issues that sort of went on for an extended period of time.  Now, I think a lot of those are better because a lot of the debris is already gone.

There are ways to ease the symptoms from allergies like avoiding outdoors when possible, over the counter medications, and allergy shots.

There is also a chance that people who have already been sick could feel worse than the normal impact of allergies due to an already-inflamed respiratory system.  

Doctors encourage people to
take allergies seriously, especially if you have underlying conditions. 

“It’s important to remember allergies are not just a trivial nuisance. That they really can be a significant medical problem, and then when you get into the impact with exacerbations and people’s asthma. I mean, it sends people into the ER and into the ICU sometimes,” said Vickery.

You know it is time for a flu or COVID test when you start experiencing symptoms like fever and discolored mucus.