No, It’s Not COVID. But Your Allergies Are Worse This Fall. Here’s Why

Fall is in full swing, which means leaf peeping season is beginning to reach its rainbow-colored potential, and pictures of masked celebrities visiting pumpkin patches have begun proliferating on social media. But this year, it also means more-severe-than-usual seasonal allergies. Look closely at your next Zoom call for the poor, suffering square trying to conceal a runny nose in between muted sneezes. “I’m sorry, my allergies are terrible right now,” he or she will inevitably reveal when red, puffy eyes betray them. At least one other person will likely echo the same sentiment.

“The counts have been high this fall for weed pollens,” confirms Sandra Y. Lin, M.D., professor and vice director of the Department of Otolaryngology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Ragweed, which is easily confused with goldenrod, is the biggest offender right now, adds J. Allen Meadows, M.D., the Montgomery, Alabama-based president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology who notes that a summer of minimal rainfall, specifically in the Northeast, has created ideal conditions for the plant to thrive. And if what is essentially an over-reactive immune response to outdoor and indoor allergens feels particularly prolonged this year, that’s because it is. “Allergy seasons are getting worse because of climate change,” confirms Caroline Sokol, M.D., Ph.D., a clinical scientist at Mass General Hospital in Boston with a specialty in Allergy and Immunology. “We no longer get to the first frost as quickly in the Fall, and in the Spring the trees are blooming a little bit earlier,” Sokol explains. Like more severe weather patterns, it’s a new reality we’re just kind of “stuck with,” she says.

Over-The-Counter, or Prescription Medication

Whether your preferred brand is Zyrtec, Allegra, Claritin or Xyzal, over-the-counter antihistamines work the same way by blocking the body’s histamine receptors to temporarily calm an allergic reaction.