Abstract:
Abstract. The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic coincided with consecutive pollination seasons for trees, grasses, and weeds.
The final results of the pandemic will not appear soon, but we can already say that it will influence the course of history no less than the well-known plague and Spanish flu pandemics. At the beginning of the pollen allergy season, many questions arose regarding the difficulty of differential diagnosis of allergic rhinitis (AR) with manifestations of coronavirus and other viral infections. The mutual influence of these pathological conditions on each other was unknown. In the process of monitoring patients, more and more data was accumulated, which high-lighted the peculiarities of the clinical characteristics of COVID-19, influenza, acute respiratory infections, and seasonal AR (rhinoconjunctivitis). Some of the symptoms of these respiratory pathologies are similar, but each of these diseases has its own characteristic features that make it possible to carry out a differential diagnosis and choose the correct patient management tactics. Among the numerous respiratory and non-respiratory symptoms (systemic nature of the lesion) of COVID-19, a decrease in the sense of smell and a runny nose deserve attention.
