I have a stuffy nose. How do I know if it’s hay fever or a cold?

By Janet Davies, Respiratory Allergy Stream Co-chair, National Allergy Centre of Excellence; Professor and Head, Allergy Research Group, Queensland University of Technology
Joy Lee, Respiratory Allergy Stream member, National Allergy Centre of Excellence; Associate Professor, School of Translational Medicine, Monash University
Saeideh Hajighasemi, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Queensland University of Technology

You’ve been through winter lurgies and escaped the start of spring free of hay fever. Now you wake up with a sniffle you can’t seem to shake.

How do you know if it’s hay fever, a cold, or something else? And how do these two different culprits cause such similar symptoms?

Hay fever is actually an allergy

Hay fever is an allergic reaction to tiny particles you inhale from “allergens”. These might be pollen, house dust mites, or…

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