Are allergies and asthma on the rise after Covid-19?

Just as many people are feeling relieved, believing the Covid-19 pandemic is over, medical scientists are becoming increasingly concerned about a new health risk, ‘long Covid’.

Recent studies suggest that even after recovering from Covid-19, many people continue to suffer from various symptoms for months. What is particularly striking is that even those who never previously had allergies or asthma are now developing severe allergies and asthma-like conditions.

A recent report published in the influential medical journal ‘Medscape’ states that many patients with long Covid experience long-lasting changes in their immune systems. These changes can trigger new allergic reactions, shortness of breath, sneezing, coughing, a runny nose, or asthma-like symptoms.

According to experts, Covid-19 is not merely a respiratory infection, but it can also affect the entire immune system. Even after the virus has left the body, the immune system in some people remains in an overly sensitive state.

As a result, minor exposure to dust, pollen, food, or slight changes in weather can provoke abnormal reactions. This is believed to be one of the key reasons behind newly developed allergies or asthma.

The Medscape report notes that many of the long Covid patients develop asthma-like breathing difficulties that they never had before. Some even require the use of inhalers. Others develop skin rashes, food allergies, or persistent nasal irritation that they never had previously.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a notable portion of people affected by long Covid develop new allergies or experience a worsening of existing ones.

Researchers believe that prolonged inflammation and a process known as mast cell activation syndrome, triggered by Covid-19, may play a role in the development of new allergies and asthma.

In this situation, experts advise that anyone who develops new breathing problems, allergies, or asthma symptoms after recovering from Covid-19 should not ignore them and should seek medical attention promptly.

Long Covid is no longer limited to fatigue or brain fog, but it is increasingly becoming a cause of new, long-term respiratory and allergy-related conditions.

This post-Covid reality reminds us that although the pandemic may be over, its effects are far from finished.

* Sayeef Hossain Khan, assistant professor and medicine specialist, Popular Diagnostic Centre, Dhanmondi, Dhaka.