Rich and Strange Aeons

Last week I was in crowded elevators in a medical building. Masked in N95 of course, but still, risky. And this week I thought I was having incipient cold symptoms: one nostril almost congested, a bit of throat tickle, general blah-ness and lethargy. My covid tests were negative, though I don't know what sensitivity to expect at such a minimal symptom stage.

Then I looked at pollen.com. Pollen levels are low (3-4 on their index), but non-zero, with grasses, a known nemesis, listed as second component. And it was really windy for a couple of nights (almost as if the weather were angry), perhaps driving air into the house. Hmm.

So I restarted my air purifiers before going to bed last night, and today, I feel great! Clear and energetic.

I don't know if it really was grass pollen. Could have been dust mite buildup, or some sort of mold. Due to falling temperatures the house has been more sealed than before (mostly meaning I'm not running a window fan all the time anymore, and closing more windows.)

But one way or another, clearer air was followed by better health!

Could also explain why I felt better yesterday afternoon, on a walk, than yesterday morning. Either pollen (and wearing a mask helped) or something in the house air (and being outside helped.)

[The post title is a reference to reports of many people insisting that their hacking cough is just some sort of new allergy, even in snowy December, and couldn't possibly be covid-19~]

I was amused to realize that technically, I've been one of the people with respiratory symptoms but blowing it off as allergies without a test.

But, I feel justified. None of the episodes lasted more than a few hours, let alone a day; they all happened during times of high reported pollen that I'm known to be allergic to (tree, then later grass, both in Vancouver this year); and I could basically turn them on and off by breathing unfiltered outdoor air or not. (Or, for grass, breathing unfiltered air while walking through big parks with lots of unmowed grass -- walking in the urban area seemed harmless. 20 minutes into the park walk I'd be sneezing or blotting my runny nose, then some time after masking again I wouldn't be.)

If I actually had symptoms lasting for a couple days I'd turn to a test, but that hasn't happened since Feb 2020. (Or if the symptoms involved more than sneeze/sniffle during allergy season, like the hacking coughs people report being surrounded by.)

Vancouver pollen levels are "VERY HIGH". The named species aren't the ones I've been tested for (but what is one to make of "Cedar, Juniper, etc."?), but I've still been 'enjoying' some itchy eyeballs and nose blowing, especially after opening my windows or being outside unmasked.

Silver lining: I'm getting very good evidence of masks working, as the past two days I've spent 2.5 hours outside without problems. Hell, I seem to be suffering more from pollen leaking into the apartment despite closed windows (or coming off my clothes...) than from being out.

This also makes me more confident that the mask is protecting me from particulates when walking along a car sewer.

Though pollen is kind of easy mode: 10-200 microns.

Relevant papers:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8278371/ (Masks work, 14 patients subjected directly to grass pollen.)

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34534761/ (Masks work, pandemic questionnaire)

https://www.jaci-inpractice.org/article/S2213-2198(20)30867-9/fulltext (Masks work, especially for 'intermittent' sufferers, Israeli nurse experiment)